We are sad to share the news of the passing of Andy Bridle, one of the founding members of Heart n Soul who left us peacefully in April.

Andy was one of the original group of people who attended the Mulberry Centre in New Cross and joined the music session I started in 1994 at the Lewisham Academy of Music.

It is strange to think back that this group of music enthusiasts, keen to get out of their day centre on a Thursday afternoon, who had no audition but simply wanted to make music, would comprise of so many talented future stars  - the likes of Cheryl Lyte, Pino Frumiento, Geoffrey Goodall, Winston Green and of course ‘Bridle’ (as he was affectionately called by Winston).

Andy had a natural sense of rhythm and was one of the finest physical comedians I have ever encountered. He saw everyone as his friend and was well loved – a real character – ‘a nice funny man – he used to make us laugh’.

When we met theatre director Alix Parker in 1986 and launched Heart n Soul, Andy's genuine love for the stage and absolute comfort on it became clear to us all. Andy was a fantastic comedy actor and improvisor, taking leading parts in all the early music theatre shows we produced such as ‘The Power of Life’ and ‘The Dungeon of Love’ where he played the mischievous Love Devil. He loved percussion and drumming, was a fabulous dancer and a natural performer taking centre stage on music shows like ‘Heart n Soul Unlugged’, the ‘Heart n Soul Roadshow’ and ‘Heart n Soul Experience’.

He enjoyed touring and had many escapades and adventures on the road. I remember the time he disappeared after a performance at Lewisham Peoples Day only to be discovered leading a practical demo in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a life size doll at the St John Ambulance stall! Or when he entranced a high-ranking EU official with a magic trick at our first European tour to Denmark, only to leave the poor man with the stub of a tie after it had been snipped off at the culmination of the trick – the big reveal being that it was not magically going to reappear again!

Andy loved television and studied comedians like Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Norman Wisdom. He had a gift of improvising and had our whole coach in hysterics on the way back from Dover after another European visit, standing in the gangway of the coach creating multiple comedic uses of an inflatable neck cushion – 15 minutes of non-stop improvisatory magic.

Heart n Soul Trustee and ex-employee Hannah Kent recalls “I remember being his keyworker on several occasions; he had a wonderful trick of making a beeline for the hot food at a service station and gesturing for the person serving to pile a generous selection of food onto his plate. He'd then arrive at the till to be told he owed £10 or whatever it was. He'd make a great show of getting out his wallet which had about 50p in it - the server would explain again what the meal cost and Andy would complete a series of gestures expressing confusion and cheeky chappy innocence. They would inevitably let him off paying, and off he'd go off happily to tuck into a slap-up meal”.

Andy retired from Heart n Soul in 1999 – arriving at his leaving party in a white suit in a white Cadillac to a red carpet reception at the Beautiful Octopus Club in Deptford. He brought unquantifiable joy, love and happiness into the world and we will all miss him.

Words written by Mark Williams. See here for some pictures from Andy’s time with Heart n Soul.