Waverley Care is saddened to learn of the death of Ally Van Tillo (formerly Alastair Hume), founder of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt and an important figure in the UK’s HIV and AIDS response, who died at home on Sunday 30 August, surrounded by his family.
Inspired by the American Names Project Memorial Quilt, Ally founded the Names Project UK and began work on the first UK Quilt panels in 1989. The Quilt soon found a home in Leith, where panels were created and received from communities across the UK, establishing a lasting connection between the Quilt and Scotland.
Through his vision and determination, Ally created a powerful memorial to the hundreds of people who lost their lives to HIV and AIDS. At a time when fear, misinformation and stigma surrounded HIV, the Quilt gave families, friends and loved ones a way to grieve publicly, remember those they had lost and ensure their lives would not be forgotten.
The Quilt became far more than a memorial. It was an act of activism, compassion and remembrance. Every panel tells the story of a life lived and loved, challenging the silence and discrimination experienced by so many people living with HIV and those who died from AIDS.
Scotland has played a unique role in the Quilt’s history. For many years, Leith was at the heart of the project, serving as a place where panels were sewn together, cared for and shared with the public. Through this connection, generations of people affected by HIV in Scotland have helped preserve the memories of those commemorated within the Quilt.
Those who knew Ally remember his humility, generosity and belief that the Quilt belonged to the communities that created it. His legacy lives on in the hundreds of panels that make up the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, and in the conversations, understanding and compassion it continues to inspire.
Grant Sugden, Chief Executive at Waverley Care said:
‘Ally’s contribution to the HIV community cannot be overstated. Through the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, he created a powerful and lasting tribute to people whose lives were too often overlooked or forgotten. Scotland was proud to play such an important role in the Quilt’s story, and we are grateful for Ally’s vision, dedication and compassion. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and everyone whose lives he touched.’
As we remember Ally, we also honour the lives commemorated within the Quilt and the communities who continue to care for their memories. We will continue working to challenge HIV stigma and ensure that the stories of those lost to HIV and AIDS are remembered.
The Quilt will continue to be displayed across the UK as a living tribute to Ally’s work and to everyone it commemorates. This September, it returns to Scotland for the first time in full with a display at Tramway, Glasgow – the country where Ally started the UK Quilt in Edinburgh in the late 1980s. The exhibition, and its accompanying public programme, will stand as a tribute to his legacy, and the Partnership hopes it will be a place for those who knew him, and those who benefited from his work, to come together and remember him.