About The Fabric of Winchester

With contributions from across the community, we’ll stitch together the memories that make Winchester extraordinary, displaying the finished memory quilts for the public to enjoy. The quilts will then be donated to Winchester Hospice, a gift from the community and St John’s in support of the impactful work of the charity providing palliative and end of life care.

There is no cost to participate in the project for individuals, community groups, or schools, with several free sewing bees and stitching days enabling all in Winchester to come together and share in the joy of creativity and storytelling.

In recognising the power of our stories, we invite all Fabric of Winchester participants to consider a gift towards the St John’s Dementia Support service, donating for those whose memories we must cherish.

Since its launch in October 2022, the service has helped more than 140 individuals living with dementia, providing life-changing support at a critical and often difficult time. But without donations from the community, we will be unable to meet the unprecedented demand for our free service, meaning many calls for help may go unanswered.

By donating to the St John’s Dementia Support service, you’ll help us to reach those most in need, transforming the quality of life for individuals, carers and loved ones facing a dementia diagnosis.

So, how can you get involved? You could:

• Donate a piece of fabric of clothing for inclusion in a Memory Quilt. See our Instructions for how to do this.
• Stitch your own ‘block’ (the squares that make up a quilt), keeping in mind the requirements laid out in our Instructions.
• Why not join one of our Community Sewing Days? They’re free to attend, but registrations are essential.
• Purchase a ‘Business Block’ for your business (or on behalf of them). Business blocks start at £60 and will include either a logo or company name made by a professional quiltmaker.
• Share your memory or story along with any photos of your block on social media and tag us or use one of the project hashtags: #FabricOfWinchester or #StitchedTogether
• Sign up to receive Fabric of Winchester updates, including being notified of Community Sewing Days, display dates (November/December) and participant stories.
• Like or follow our social media pages where we’ll be posting our favourite stories and memories from across the community.

The project will be launching later in the summer, if you have any questions please contact connect@stjohnswinchester.co.uk. To find out more information, please subscribe below.