Seasonal appeals - Poor and homeless need support

YESTERDAY saw two of the country’s leading charities, the Simon Community and the St Vincent de Paul Society, launch timely seasonal appeals.

Appropriately, Simon is once again seeking funding from business towards a community advertisement rather than sending out costly greeting cards. In four years over €800,000 has been raised through this worthy scheme.

It would be difficult to overstate the need for such funding. More people are sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin than in London. Simon’s yearly bill for caring for homeless people is €6 million.