Kieron Barrett (Passed away 18 Jul 2017)

In loving memory of Kieron Barrett who sadly passed away on 18th July 2017.

Kieron was born on 26 July 1978, the same day as his cousin, Susan who was 3 years older and on the same day as his grand parents wedding anniversary. It was therefore difficult to forget his birthday within the family. His grand parents went on to raise him and he had 4 younger half sisters and a brother. He was a very bright, loving, lively child. He had a great if slightly off key sense of humour. One of the first jokes that he ever told was when he was 5. “What do you get if your pour boiling water down a rabbit hole? Hot cross bunnies!” He could be quite a joker. As a child he developed an interest in golf, getting his first set of golf clubs when he was 12. We joked that if he had followed through with that passion he could have been the UK’s answer to Tiger Woods.

He was a fast learner and even though he was a ‘stranger’ to school, he got 5 decent GCSEs. Later on, on the inside he gained several Level 3 qualifications, A level equivalents and even gained a foundation degree. With his specialised qualifications, he worked on a number of training projects helping some of the most disadvantaged young people.

An Arsenal supporter, his keen interest in music led him to hanging around at MTV when he was in his late teens. The Managing Editor in the news department kept seeing him around so often and was so impressed by his music knowledge that he gave him a job as an intern.

Kieron could to turn his hand to most things. He put his construction skills to best use most recently working on the Bodleian’s Weston Library.

Here are a few other amazing things about him.

1. Kieron was trained by the Samaritans to be a Listener in prison. He would be called upon at any time of the day or night to talk with prisoners when they had problems or were feeling suicidal.

2. Kieron gained an NVQ Level 3 in Advice and Guidance to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds to progress with their lives and careers.

3. He helped illiterate prisoners to learn to read through the Shannon Trust as he often found that he was in the minority inside where he found literacy rates appalling.

4. He was excellent at sewing, both by machine and hand stitching. As well as having sewing qualifications, he won a national gold award for his needlework. He was employed by Fine Cell Works to produce soft furnishings that were sold in Harrods and Liberty in London.

5. He had work displayed as part of a quilt exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum and worked with the artist, Gavin Turk to produce a piece that was exhibited in a Mayfair gallery and sold for several thousand pounds.

Sadly Kieron’s fiancée, Jayne died suddenly in 2015. He never fully recovered, Kieron created 3 beautiful, extremely bright children – Rachel 18, Charlotte 13 and Little Kieron aged 2. Although their father has left them they are destined to do some super things in this world. They are a blessing and a lovely legacy.