Over the past year, the Binks Hub has been working in partnership with the Poverty Truth Community (PTC) to co-create a digital quilt – one that showcases their work in advancing change for people experiencing poverty. This blog offers an update on our collaborative journey so far.
Introducing the Poverty Truth Community
“Nothing about us - without us - is for us.”
Founded in 2009, the Poverty Truth Community began as a Poverty Truth Commission but quickly grew into something much more: a grassroots movement for change, led by those with lived experience of poverty. Over the years, they have found their identity as a vibrant, relational community, united by the belief that real progress can only be made when those directly affected by poverty are at the heart of decision-making. Their motto, used by other movements before them – “nothing about us, without us, is for us” – has been a guiding principle throughout their history.
The substantive work of PTC is diverse, spanning support for kinship carers, advocacy for asylum seekers, raising awareness about food poverty and food banks, and campaigning for school clothing grants. But running through all their work is a core belief in the power of relationships – not just among community members but also with those in positions of influence. Their longevity as a community has allowed them to witness the ever-changing landscape of poverty policy in Scotland, its moments of progress, its setbacks including wider socio-economic factors, and the ongoing need for persistent, meaningful, informed advocacy.
As they reflected on their journey, the PTC recognised the importance of finding a way to tell their story for all those who stand to learn from it – one that would honour their past, support their present, and shape their future.
The Digital Quilt: A Living Archive of Stories
“Quilts have an extraordinarily strong uniting power. In more than one sense, quilts re-sift one’s experience, leaving some lasting solace.” (Donnell, 1990)
When we first met, they were already in the process of gathering stories, images, and artefacts – materials that carried the collective history of their movement. Their hope was to create a digital space where these materials could be stored, ensuring a lasting legacy for their work, while also informing wider efforts by poverty organisations, activists, and policymakers.
As we talked, the metaphor of a quilt emerged as a powerful way to think about how to tell the Poverty Truth Community story. A quilt, as a whole, tells a shared story, but each patch represents an individual narrative, a personal history woven into a larger fabric. A digital quilt, we realised, could stitch personal and communal experiences (Strohmayer, 2021) together in an inclusive and meaningful way.
The physicality of quilts also resonated with the community. The front of a quilt is where stories are told – bold, expressive, and inviting engagement. But a quilt is more than what meets the eye. There is the soft middle layer, offering warmth and comfort, much like the relationships PTC has built over the years. And then there is the unseen back – a space that might be messy, with loose threads, but which ultimately holds everything together. Threads themselves form a useful metaphor to connecting all those factors that come together to create a movement of change. This layered metaphor has helped to frame our collaboration.
From Quilts to Collage: A Creative Process
"This project was lots of fun. Helping the group form their ideas for their own patches, then watching them be fabricated was amazing. There were interpersonal interactions that were very heartwarming to be privy to, and some real understanding, comradery and compassion for each other developed alongside the quilt itself." (Foxxy, Poverty Truth Community member reflecting on the collage activity)
While the idea of a real quilt was compelling, practicalities meant we needed another approach. Time and financial constraints aside, we also wanted a medium that would allow as many community members as possible to participate. Enter visual community artist Jean McEwan, who introduced the idea of collage.
Collage, like quilting, brings disparate pieces together to create something whole. It offers an accessible, expressive way for individuals to tell their stories while still contributing to a collective artwork. In community workshops and even during the PTC Christmas lunch, members crafted their own ‘patches’, each reflecting their personal experiences and perspectives within the PTC. The collages were made in response to the following prompts:
- What does the PTC feel like for you?
- What activities, events and achievements have been most memorable for you?
- What have you gotten out of being involved with the PTC?
- Where has it led you in your life beyond the community?
The collage materials for the quilt patches were designed and created by Jean in collaboration with PTC before the workshop. Together, they selected meaningful images and symbols that resonated with the community, transforming them into illustrations, drawings, and prints. These visual elements – trees symbolising growth, keys and maps representing travel, and cups of tea and hands evoking a sense of community – became the foundation for participants’ collage artworks. To enrich the creative process, textured handmade papers and transparencies were also included, allowing for layered expressions of experience, meaning, and connection.
What emerged from this process was more than just artwork. As members created their collages, they crafted their stories – first individually, then collectively as they shared their creations with the group. The process was both reflective and relational, reinforcing the community bonds that are at the heart of PTC’s work. And while some members were more confident in their artistic or verbal communication skills than others, everyone took pride in what they had created, and to borrow a quotation from a community member, found the place where the light could shine through.
These collages have now added a new layer to PTC’s storytelling, complementing the materials already gathered.
Stitching the Digital Quilt Together
With the collages completed, we are now working with Jean McEwan to bring them together into a digital quilt. At the same time, we are working with a group of community researchers from PTC who are helping to identify key themes across all the different materials that the Poverty Truth Community members have made and contributed to this project. We are also exploring digital platforms that will allow us to bring together all the materials together: the original images, short stories and artefacts which PTC members contributed and the new quilt ‘patches’. We want to find a digital space that can bring these two halves together, and do justice to the richness of these stories.
We are excited about the next steps in this journey and look forward to sharing more as the digital quilt takes shape, and as we learn more about what this mode of knowledge exchange can offer – including the practicalities of how we do it. Watch this space for further updates!
References
Donnell, R. (1990). Quilts as Women’s Art: A Quilt Poetics. Gallerie Publications.
Strohmayer, A. (2021). Digitally Quilting Social Justice. In: Digitally Augmenting Traditional Craft Practices for Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
