Simon Community
{{Short description|Charity for homeless people}}
File:Simon Community street cafe at St Giles.jpg.]]
File:Simon Community transport.jpg
The Simon Community is a charity which helps homeless people, taking its name from Simon of Cyrene.{{cite news |url=http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/why-one-charity-broke-away-cyrenians/management/article/1352556 |title=Why one charity broke away from the Cyrenians |newspaper=Third Sector |date=25 June 2015 |accessdate=22 April 2017}} It was founded in 1963 by Anton Wallich-Clifford,{{cite web |url=https://www.simoncommunity.org.uk/about-simon.html |title=Introduction |publisher=The Simon Community |accessdate=22 April 2017}} who had encountered many homeless people while working for the Probation Service at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London. Wallich-Clifford was influenced by the work of Dorothy Day and her Catholic Worker Movement in the US, and his original vision was to establish a farm and community in Sussex. However, local protests prevented this and the organisation developed as a chain of houses and night shelters run by local volunteers. The Simon Community was co-founded by political activist Eddie Linden.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/happy-80th-birthday-eddie-linden-poet-pacifist-and-catholic-atheist-1.2211208|title=Happy 80th birthday, Eddie Linden, poet, pacifist and Catholic atheist|last=Cooney|first=John|date=13 May 2015|access-date=18 March 2018}}
A trust was established to manage the affairs of the charity but its administration was weak.{{r|RC}} Attempts were made to transform the organisation into a decentralised federation of homelessness bodies: the Cyrenian Federation and Homes for Homeless People.
Anton Wallich-Clifford died in 1978, but the original community continues where it is based and active in London.{{r|RC}}
Ireland
In Ireland, the Simon Communities were founded by a group of Trinity College and University College Dublin students in 1969.{{cite web |url=http://www.simon.ie/AboutUs/ALivingHistory.aspx |title=A Living History |publisher=Simon Communities in Ireland |accessdate=22 April 2017}} It now operates all over Ireland, but particularly in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk and Galway.{{cite web |url=http://www.simon.ie/AboutUs/SimoninIreland.aspx |title=About Simon |publisher=Simon Communities in Ireland |accessdate=22 April 2017}} These organisations partly (about 50%) fund themselves by hosting a number of charity initiatives and events such as the Dublin Fun Run.{{cite web|url=https://www.dubsimon.ie/funrun/FunRunRegistration.aspx?eventid=1|title=Dublin Simon Fun Run|publisher=Dublin Simon Community|accessdate=6 December 2012}} The remainder of funding comes from service contracts with government to provide homeless housing. In 2009, Dublin Simon celebrated its 40th anniversary.{{citation |title=Dublin Simon Community 40th Anniversary|author=RTÉ |year=2009 |url=http://www.dubsimon.ie/ |publisher=Dublin Simon Community}}
See also
- St Mungo's - a large charity for the homeless founded by a Simon Community volunteer.
- Museum of Homelessness
References
External links
- [http://www.simoncommunity.org.uk/index.html The Simon Community]
- {{EW charity|283938|The Simon Community}}
- [http://www.simon.ie/ Simon Communities of Ireland]
- {{cite web|url=http://www.coughtrey.me.uk/simon.htm|title=Chapter 46: Simon|orig-year=2003|year=2010|publisher=Victor Thomas Coughtrey|accessdate=6 December 2012}}
- [http://www.simoncommunity.org/ Simon Community Northern Ireland]
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Category:Charities based in London
Category:Homelessness in the United Kingdom
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