Your support could be
helping us to:

Make special
musical instruments
for disabled people

Run year round
music workshops
for mental health care
service users

Run accredited education
programmes in prisons
and with young people
at risk

 

'We are very pleased to support 'The City Wakes' project which will provide people with mental health problems with an opportunity for involvement in an exciting and creative festival of music and arts. The project will challenge traditional stereotypes about mental illness, and complements our own work on tackling discrimination and promoting recovery and social inclusion.'

Karen Bell
Chief Executive
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

 

 

Mind Over Matter: The Exhibition

1 in 6 people will currently be experiencing problems with their mental health. That means that even if you haven't experienced a mental health problem yourself, you almost certainly know many people who have.

The Network
for people interested in
the development of
socially inclusive arts

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun. Shine on you crazy diamond.

The Syd Barrett Trust - Introduction

Since Syd’s death in 2006, his sister, Rosemary Breen, has chosen to use proceeds from an auction of his belongings to fund work in the area of arts and mental health – extending to other individuals the enjoyment and benefits that Syd found in the arts.

In June 2007, Rosemary, who was already supporting The City Wakes project, decided to work with Escape Artists to establish The Syd Barrett Trust. Directed by Rosemary and managed by Escape Artists, the Trust aims to secure continued support for Escape Artists' valuable work.

“Because I recognise how important music and painting were to Syd, I want to help other people, who can benefit in the same way from the arts as he did, by providing opportunities for active involvement in the creative process.”

Rosemary Breen, Syd’s sister and Director of The Syd Barrett Trust

“The work Escape Artists do in helping people with mental health issues regain their confidence through music is invaluable..."

Roger Waters, Escape Artist Patron

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Syd Barrett Trust Today

All of our arts in mental health programmes are currently developed in partnership with, and for the clients of, the following organisations:

The Cambridge Resource Centre
Sue Ryder Care
Penrose Housing Association


Crisis (David Gilmour is the Vice President of this charity. More...)
CAMEO

About Escape Artists

A major part of Escape Artists’ work is the delivery of nationally recognized educational programmes (see Arts Based Learning below), although it does also deliver non-accredited workshops where required. As well as allowing participants to gain a qualification, and developing confidence, social and art based skills, the workshops also offer participants the chance to contribute towards professional arts productions. This provides clients with both an additional motivation for completing their qualification and invaluable experience.

Escape Artists works with a wide range of clients including mental health care service users, people in hospice care, homeless people, prisoners, ex-offenders, young offenders and young people at risk. At present, it is delivering workshops for, among others, Sue Ryder Care, Crisis (Skylight), Lewes Prison, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

"If all Youth Offending Team (YOT) sessions were like this, I would go every day."

REACT2 Participant

Arts Based Learning

A major part of Escape Artists’ work is the delivery of nationally recognised educational programmes. The courses – which are all OCN accredited – use the arts to facilitate the development of creative and social skills, supporting clients in their efforts to rejoin mainstream society.

A variety of art forms are covered by the courses. Drama and music are strong elements in most programmes but work in areas such as video and creative writing can also be involved, depending on the interests of the participants. Courses currently delivered on a regular basis include Music and Literacy, Music Ensemble Skills and Teamwork, Drama for Performance, and Pre-Employment Training.

Teaching methods are dynamic and encourage direct participation from learners through practical exercises and hands on experience. A strong emphasis is placed on working as a group.

'The tutors were excellent, very professional, enthusiastic and committed. The organisation of the course was second to none – superb. Escape Artists are a pleasure to work with.'

'Also wanted to say how good the tutors were, how conscious they were of the prison setting and the awareness that needs to be there in order to work effectively in that environment. They both had a lovely way of working with the prisoners and the prisoners got a lot out of it.'

Members of HMP Cardiff Education Staff

Assistive Music Technology

Escape Artists initially began developing Assistive Music Technology through its workshops in Sue Ryder Care hospices. Having experienced first-hand the problems faced by physically disabled clients in using musical instruments, it approached the University of Cambridge asking for its help. The company's cutting edge Assistive Music Technology programme was the result.

Developed by the University of Cambridge’s Engineering Department, in collaboration with Engineers Without Borders, Assistive Music Technology comprises of a series of software programs which allow severely disabled individuals to participate fully in music-making. Early programs developed for the project included a head guitar where chords can be played by moving the head from side to side, and a rhythm selector where up to eight percussion instruments can be turned off or on. More recent programs allow clients to compose and save rhythm, bass, chord and melody patterns; they can then select between patterns in real time performance.

The ultimate goal of the Assistive Music Technology project is to allow the creation of a Sue Ryder Band, where four or more participants are controlling different aspects of a piece of music, either in the same workshop or even remotely via the internet. The joy of clients using the new computer technology is, however, already obvious. It is hoped that patients’ more active participation will slow down the deterioration in their condition, and that this entertaining and rewarding method of exercise will extend the degree of movement that they are currently able to achieve.

In the future, Escape Artists aims to extend the use Assistive Music Technology, allowing many more individuals to benefit from its development.

Escape Artists’ professional productions

Escape Artists’ professional productions – including The City Wakes - serve both to raise awareness of arts in mental health, and to fundraise for the charity’s core activities. They also provide clients with invaluable work experience. Previous projects have covered a range of art forms and have received considerable critical acclaim. Examples include:

• In 2003, Escape Artists’ film Monster won the Big Issue Audience Choice Award.
• In 2004, Escape Artists ran a series of workshops in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company. The workshops culminated in a performance of Love and Marriage, a community production based on Shakespeare’s The Two Gentleman of Verona.
• In 2005, Escape Artists sold out King’s College Chapel with its much-praised production Adoreus: A Cambridge Cantata.

Become a Friend of the
Syd Barrett Trust Today