A child's coat which was donated by a mother from East Sussex eight years ago has reappeared 250 miles away in a Powys town. Anna Kilpatrick, 51, from Forest Row, was "very confused" when a woman from Builth Wells in Powys contacted her to say she had found an age 11-12 coat with the name and phone number of her now 20-year-old son. The online influencer, who is one of 15 siblings, said she "always had hand-me-downs" and is passionate about sustainable fashion, regularly donating her children's clothes.
She said the experience "really sang to my heart" and shows if we care for our clothes, they can have long lives and many stories with different children. Ms Kilpatrick said her phone rang with an unfamiliar number. It turned out to be a "lovely" woman from Builth Wells, who had found a lost green coat with the name Isaac and a phone number on the label, and was trying to return it.
"In a matter of seconds I had to kind of work it all out," she said. Ms Kilpatrick realised the H&M coat she had donated eight years ago to a friend had "somehow made its way from East Sussex right over to mid Wales". After retracing its journey, she figured out that the woman she had given it to had a Welsh connection, which had brought the coat across the border.
When she was sent a photo of the coat, she was surprised to see it still looking "great" and said it shows that with proper care, even affordable items can last and have multiple lives. "We are all such a brilliant part of the sustainabi.
