Simon on the Streets

Events Management students from Leeds Met organised a fantastic silent flash mob in Leeds on 11th April.  The event saw small groups on street corners with their powerful messages written on card, just sitting on the ground.  They were often ignored although some passers by did take an interest.

All the groups then descended on City Square where they stood and sat in silence for about 20 minutes (on what was a pretty cold day).  It was an amazing sight that stimulated quite a lot of interest from passers by – a couple of people were even moved to tears!

Many thanks to all those who volunteered their time to take part!

If you were part of the event, or if you witnessed it, and have any photos email them to us and we will get them onto this gallery.

Watch this space; we’ll have some film of the event soon.

We are holding an event in Huddersfield aimed at engaging with the business community in the area.  The event, held on the 25th April, will offer an insight in to our work and why there is a need to do it.  It will also, following the ‘Blue Plaques’ campaign, look at death rates among those who are homeless.  If you would like to join us for the event please get in touch: admin@simononthestreets.co.uk

Louise Lapish from Gatewood Consulting was so moved by the #streetplaques campaign that the company made a donation.

Louise said, “I’ve been interested in what Simon on the Streets do for a while but when I saw this campaign I needed to act.  one of the reasons it resonates with me is that much of the work we do is about helping people to communicate better; and that exactly what The team at Simon on the Streets have to do with their clients.”

Louise met with Clive at one of the Plaques to officially make the donation.

Our latest awareness raising campaign is a series of ‘Blue Plaques’ placed around Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield.  The English Heritage Blue Plaques remember noteworthy individuals and often mark places where they lived.  Our plaques do the same for people who have slept rough.

If you see any of our Plaques email or Tweet a picture of yourself with the plaque and we will get it up on the website… there might even be a prize for the first person photographed at every site in an area!

If you are going to look out for our plaques be aware that rather than the usual eye level placement ours are down at street level to signify where people would be lying when using each location to sleep.  There are several plaques for you to find in each location; below is a shot of one from each area to give you a taster.

We believe we should commemorate not only those who have achieved fame in our society but everyone.  We also think those who are so often forgotten in life should be remembered in death… especially when you consider the terrible statistic that people who are homeless have a life expectancy of just 48 years.

…and if all this makes you want to help please click here and make a donation!

Many thanks to McGrath O’Toole and Ponderosa for all the hard work designing the plaques.

Our Chair of Trustees, Ian McKenzie, is taking part in the London marathon this year to raise funds for us.  click here to visit his just giving page and support his race.  Ian has been a supporter, volunteer and trustee of the charity for almost ten years now and we really appreciate the the effort he is going to.

If you have noticed in the image that his JustGiving page says he is running the 2103 marathon we can assure you that this is a typo and not the kind of highly organised planning ahead we would all be proud of!