Patrons: Rosemary Breen - Mick Rock -  Symon Vegro

. The Syd Barrett Fund blog is written by Simon Webb and can be found on the Social Arts Network

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Simon Webb's blog on SANe

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Mojo Magazine - March 2010

 

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‘He seems tense, suspended. He treads through time and space very gingerly. Thin and pale, with eyes still shocked by it all, he looks like a poet of old. The wasted, ephemeral beauty of a Keats.’ So wrote Mick Rock of Pink Floyd’s founder member, Syd Barrett, in Rolling Stone magazine. The year was 1971 and it would prove to be Syd Barrett’s last ever photo shoot.

As part of Genesis’ 35th anniversary celebrations, Mick Rock has hand-selected three portraits from that legendary last session to be reproduced as large-format, hand-signed and numbered, limited edition art prints available now exclusively to Genesis subscribers.

‘Blown on the steel breeze’

In honour of Syd’s creative and innovative genius, and in celebration of Mick Rock’s past Genesis editions, each photograph has been dramatically screen printed in black ink on to aluminium.

Suitable for framing, only 65 of each of the 11x14 inch screenprints will ever be made. The three portraits are produced from the negative for the first time, are not available as prints anywhere else and have been selected by the photographer from his leather-bound volume, PSYCHEDELIC RENEGADES.

Thanks to Mick Rock, The Syd Barrett Fund is receiving a donation from the sale of every print. More information on the Genesis Publications website.

Sponsored Skydive

We are very pleased to say that Simon's skydive was a brilliant success. More pictures and Simon's blog on SANe.

Escape Artists staff will be skydiving from 10,000 feet (over 2 miles) this September to raise money for the charity and the Syd Barrett Fund, which it manages. The challenge will see those taking part freefall at over 120MPH for several thousand feet, before the parachute takes over and they glide the last mile to ground level.

Among them will be marketing officer Simon Webb, who is registered blind and has a partial hearing loss.

"As someone with a disability that has benefited from the support of others to do some of the things I enjoy, I want to raise money for a charity which uses the arts as a way of improving the wellbeing of those marginalised by society."

Simon's Just Giving page

Simon's jump will take place on September 5th, 2009. You will be able to read all about it on Simon's blog on SANe.

STOP PRESS: Simon has completed his jump and is now readying himself for the next challenge. Many thanks to all those who kindly supported Simon's inspiring fundraising effort. Read more on Simon's blog.

 

The Big Give - Matched Funding Campaign

Escape Artists is delighted to announce that it has been selected to take part in The Big Give's Matched Funding Challenge 2009. Donations of £100 or more, made by 30th September, will help create a matched fund which will go towards the development of the Syd Barrett Centre for the Arts in Cambridge, UK.

The idea for the arts centre has come from Rosemary Breen, Syd's sister. Here's what she said in a recent interview (read the interview in full on SANe):

Q. And what is the ultimate dream? There has been the idea of an arts centre in Syd’s memory one day.

A. I can imagine, something like an old church, I wouldn't want a modern building because it wouldn't suit, and it would be wonderful if we could have classrooms where art and various creative things could be taught and then we could have an art gallery where we could show it, a cafe where anyone could just drop in, somewhere that was totally inclusive. It seems in life we separate ourselves too much, and I would really like somewhere where everyone could feel included and everyone was welcome. It’s probably just a dream...

Help us turn the dream into reality. Thanks to the generosity of the Reed Foundation, any donations of £100 or more will be matched up until 30th September, 2009.

Find out more about how you can double the value of your donation by visiting The Syd Barrett Centre's page on The Big Give.

Stop press: The funding target for round one of the Big Give has been achieved. Details about round two will be published here soon.

Earlier this year we conducted an interview with Rosemary Breen (Syd Barrett's sister), to find out about her hopes for what the Syd Barrett Fund can achieve. It was also an opportunity for us to put some questions to her on behalf of Syd’s fans.

The majority of answers to fan questions come in the second part of the interview, in this section we find out why she wanted to create the charity, what she hopes will happen with it and what Syd’s state of mind was really like in his latter years.

This interview will appear on the Fund’s website in article form, but we thought we’d put the full Q and A on this blog for those who’d prefer to read it this way.

Q. Your brother is best known for being Syd, but wanted to be called Roger once he’d returned to Cambridge post Pink Floyd, which would you rather we called him for this interview?
A. It's an interesting point isn't it; in a situation like this it's Syd. He was Roger to me because that was his name and he was my brother, but he's Syd when we're talking about his music and that time in his life. So, I feel more relaxed talking about him as Syd.

Q. Much has been written about Syd’s state of mind, especially in his latter years, what was he actually like?
A. He wasn't mentally ill in anyway, he was different, eccentric, his mind and ideas were simply different from the considered norm. Thank goodness we are not all the same, we need people like Syd to add colour to our lives.

Read the rest of the interview on Simon Webb's Blog on SANe (the Social Arts Network)

 

Beat Keller has written an homage to Syd. It's called "SYD BARRETT" and it's played by Beat's jazz-tentet Keller's <10>. The ensemble features ten of the most exciting players on the younger-generation Swiss jazz scene. Find out more about Beat and his music and listen to the homage at www.kellers10.ch

The Syd Barrett Trust is changing its name to The Syd Barrett Fund. It will take a little while to reflect this change of name throughout this website and elsewhere. But we hope to complete the re-branding within the next few weeks. Although the name is changing, everything else stays exactly as it was. This change of name is taking place at the request of the Barrett family as they feel the new name provides a better indication of what the Fund exists for (to raise money for arts projects that support mental wellbeing).

 
Cambridge Evening News - March 26th 2009

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Thanks to Rosemary Breen, Syd Barrett's sister, this wonderful mosaic by Syd Barrett was recently auctioned on Ebay in order to raise funds for the Syd Barrett Trust. The winner of the auction, Brian, with his wife Marie (far right), collected the mosaic today (March 1st) at a private ceremony in Cambridge.

Other items on eBay

PERHAPS the most bizarre evidence of fans’ devotion to the late Syd Barrett came when his family discovered, after his death, that someone was selling little bags of soil from the garden of his Cambridge house. More...

We are delighted to announce that we have 50 City Wakes posters, signed by Mick Rock, for sale in our online gallery. These posters are only available from the Syd Barrett Trust and all proceeds will go to towards supporting the Trust's work in arts in mental health.

Mick Rock recently became a Patron of the Syd Barrett Trust and is one of the few people who really knew Syd well.

"Understandably, most people think of Syd as a dark, brooding, inarticulate Prince of Psychedelia gone haywire, but the strongest impression he left on me from the times we spent together, was of his laughter. He liked to laugh."

More...

In order to comply with our agreement with PayPal, all financial transactions are managed through Escape Artists main website. When you order online you will be redirected to www.escapeartists.co.uk.

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Syd Barrett was the posthumous winner of the Tommy Vance Inspiration Award at the Classic Rock Awards in November 2008. The award was presented by Todd Rundgren and accepted by Syd's sister, Rosemary Breen.