Kevan
Kevan is part of the Recovery Team at Hillside Clubhouse, a mental health charity in Islington.
After his friend and Hillside Clubhouse member Daniella died in 2023, Kevan and other Hillside Clubhouse members made a memorial quilt in her honour.
“A lot of people who come to our creative sessions are going through a hard time. But they can come here and escape for a couple of hours.
Everyone involved is healing in one way or another. Everyone’s trying to move forwards.
There’s tea and coffee. We have the radio on. We like Mellow Magic - you know, background music. There’s conversations flying around. It’s really relaxed.
Some of the people taking part never met Daniella. But it doesn’t matter. The work still feels important to them. And they’re meeting new people, learning a new skill.
My grandmother and mother were obsessed with making things. They sewed and knitted and taught me all those skills. I never wanted to play with cards or guns; I was making dolls’ clothes instead.
When the other kids ribbed me, my parents would say ‘He’s going to be a fashion designer when he grows up.’ They were incredibly modern, when I look back now.
I was a designer for 35 years. I worked in a five-storey studio in Soho. But when I was made redundant at 54, life on the carousel stopped. A lot of things resurfaced.
I loved fashion, but it wasn’t always kind to me. I realised it wasn’t the place for me anymore.
There was a period where I couldn’t draw. And I’d been drawing all my life! But when you have a traumatic experience, you can lose yourself.
This work is about helping people find themselves again. Being healed through the creative process.
Daniella came to Hillside Clubhouse after she had a breakdown. That’s where I met her.
I was delivering a patchwork workshop and Daniella started coming along. We didn’t see her as much after she got ill, but she carried on doing the sewing and patchwork at home.
After Daniella passed away, I went to her memorial service. The quilts she’d made were displayed on the walls. Daniella’s family knew that I ran the sewing workshops and said they wanted to make a donation.
Twenty bags turned up, packed full of incredible textiles. The most beautiful batiks you can imagine. She had extraordinary taste.
“I feel like we’ve made sense of it. We’ve finished what she couldn’t.”
The flowers we’ve used on the quilt - lots of them were made by Daniella. But we’ve added to them. Embellished them with butterflies, little ladybirds and beetles.
I’m sure Daniella is smiling somewhere knowing that all this material hasn’t gone to waste.
I feel like we’ve made sense of it. We’ve finished what she couldn’t.
When I worked in fashion, everything had to be perfect. The very best that it could be.
With this project, the outcomes are different. It’s more about the people. The best thing that could happen is that everyone’s taken part and had a good time. That’s it.
Of course, I still want it to be fabulous. But everything’s a lot more organic. I look at the quilt and think, everyone came together to make this. They chose to be part of it.
Any imperfections are all part of its loveliness.
Now that it’s almost finished, we’re going to invite her family to come in and do some work on it. Then we’re going to have it on display here in the Clubhouse.
For me, it’s ticked every box. Rewarding, meaningful, sustainable. It’s helped other people move forward with their own mental health. It’s a project where everything just fell into place.
In fashion, things last for a few months and then it’s onto the next thing. But this has got longevity. In a way, it’s a love letter to Daniella. It’s a legacy.”
Written by Laura McDonagh