Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share AIDS: The Lost Voices - Behind the Stitches, Sandy, Richie & Philip
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
AIDS: The Lost Voices - Behind the Stitches, Sandy, Richie & Philip
After visiting the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at the Turbine Hall at the TATE in the summer of 2025, I found myself deeply moved by the creativity and craftsmanship evident at all levels, alongside the poignant individual stories embedded in each panel.
This led me to research various quilts that particularly caught my eye, focusing on those lovingly made for Sandy Kane, a Canadian who moved to London to work for the Government.
Along with the Quilt made for Richard "Richie" McMullen, his life story is stitched with survival and relentless activism: abused by his father and, by his early teens, driven into sex work in Liverpool before leaving for London at 15, Richie turned his trauma into a mission, founding ‘Streetwise’ to support rent boys and later co-founding Survivors, a helpline for rape victims. He campaigned tirelessly for legal recognition and reform on male rape and, after being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, confronted stigma head-on — writing and publishing four acclaimed books that combined personal testimony with campaigning urgency, ensuring his voice remained central to the movements he helped build.
We also look at a quilt dedicated to "SMASH" discovering his real name was Philip Maurice Tolson. But as we start to establish certain aspects of his life we lack personal testimony to the kind of man he was and his story becomes an appeal in the hope friends of old come forward to share more about the life of this handsome young man.
All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:
XTRA Tea Blog AIDS: THE LOST VOICES - Behind the Stitches
UK AIDS Quilt Website ---> DONATE HERE <----
View Sandy's Quilt
View Richard's Quilt
View Philip's Quilt
----------------------------------------------------
Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE
----------------------------------------------------
Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS, featured in this podcast. No copyright infringement intended -
- British Newspaper Archives / Newspapers
- UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Website
View all episodes
By William HampsonAfter visiting the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at the Turbine Hall at the TATE in the summer of 2025, I found myself deeply moved by the creativity and craftsmanship evident at all levels, alongside the poignant individual stories embedded in each panel.
This led me to research various quilts that particularly caught my eye, focusing on those lovingly made for Sandy Kane, a Canadian who moved to London to work for the Government.
Along with the Quilt made for Richard "Richie" McMullen, his life story is stitched with survival and relentless activism: abused by his father and, by his early teens, driven into sex work in Liverpool before leaving for London at 15, Richie turned his trauma into a mission, founding ‘Streetwise’ to support rent boys and later co-founding Survivors, a helpline for rape victims. He campaigned tirelessly for legal recognition and reform on male rape and, after being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, confronted stigma head-on — writing and publishing four acclaimed books that combined personal testimony with campaigning urgency, ensuring his voice remained central to the movements he helped build.
We also look at a quilt dedicated to "SMASH" discovering his real name was Philip Maurice Tolson. But as we start to establish certain aspects of his life we lack personal testimony to the kind of man he was and his story becomes an appeal in the hope friends of old come forward to share more about the life of this handsome young man.
All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:
XTRA Tea Blog AIDS: THE LOST VOICES - Behind the Stitches
UK AIDS Quilt Website ---> DONATE HERE <----
View Sandy's Quilt
View Richard's Quilt
View Philip's Quilt
----------------------------------------------------
Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE
----------------------------------------------------
Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS, featured in this podcast. No copyright infringement intended -
- British Newspaper Archives / Newspapers
- UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Website