Simon Bartholomew

Simon has sponsored several trees since 2016, in Malpas Road Brocklet, choosing white beam, pear, and crimson point and purple cherries. He dedicated these to his mother, his children, and also one to Jimi Hendrix. “It resembles a purple haze in summer and even has an Afro”.

He described himself as a “funky soul musician” and is co-founder of the Brand New Heavies band. he has been pleased bu its commercial success since the early 1990s - on one occasion the band was on Top of the Pops with its single Midnight at the Oasis - and he enjoyed “sharing the energy”, “giving people the opportunity of a bit of a dance” and creating what he calls “a loud meditation for his listeners”.

Simon grew up in Ealing West London. He particularly remembers “climbing in the fruit trees in the garden, and the shapes of them even now/ He could still climb them with his eyes closed.”

Simon its also “a father and a survivor”. He has been run the Brockley area since 1994, enjoying “the human bio-diversity of Southeast London.” He says, “Let’s face it, we are just another animal”.