Art on the Streets, Simon Style

Simon on the Streets

Midnight, Leeds. The bells chime twelve from the top of the Parish Church, echoing through the thin, chilly autumn air. The last empty train from the station stalks along the bridge crossing Kirkgate, driving north-east towards York, Northumberland, and the Borders. And as the final carriage rattles overhead, a lonely man beds down, taking shelter under the viaduct for another bitter and abandoned night.

When daylight comes and the first coaches arrive into the bus station, and the first of the morning’s workers step off the number 40 outside Mecca Bingo, last night is someone else’s distant memory.

That is until now, as a hard-hitting new campaign led by a local homeless charity is making its mark quite visibly across Leeds.

Simon on the Streets has grown irrevocably in stature over the last decade, working hard and often stubbornly to genuinely support homeless people around West Yorkshire. With just a handful of staff and support workers, they raise money for their vital work through campaigns and events which confront ordinary people with the extraordinary challenges faced daily by the homeless.

This month is the second of their now-annual rough sleepout fundraisers. Next Thursday evening, scores of participants will gather on City Square before looking at some of the spots populated by rough sleepers around Leeds once the last buses have departed, and finally bedding down outside the Parish Church until the morning.

Simon on the StreetsThis year’s sleepout looks set to attract double the number that turned out last time. With nearly a hundred people likely to take part, they have been galvanized not only by the rising profile of Simon on the Streets nor just by its relentless Twitter campaign (their #iamwithsimon hashtag has been “top trend” lately in Leeds), but by the striking and very visible impact they have made down the alleys and by-ways of the city.

The brainchild of Leeds advertising agency McGrath O’Toole, at locations around the town centre you’ll find redbrick walls and pavements covered in white paint, stencilled into the shape of a single bed and a table adorned with an alarm clock. In bold typeface above, should any passer-by miss the subtlety, are the stark words: “Simon Won’t Rest Until People Stop Sleeping Here”.

I met Helen from the city centre-based organisation this week, and as we stopped to look at one of the “works” round the corner from Starbucks at the end of Wellington Street, two more passers-by stopped and pointed, suddenly and dramatically understanding what they saw.

“Graffiti”; “street art”; whatever your choice of words, it confronts us without compromise, harshly challenging our view of the small world immediately before us when we step off the first bus of the morning.

Passing by the graffiti just off Wellington Street, you see for the briefest of moments the six yards in front of your face through someone else’s eyes – someone who is never given much of a chance to paint the world as he or she sees it.

Discomfiting and provocative as it most certainly is, for the dedicated and passionate people at Simon on the Streets this is how they begin to help the people they’re working for.

One comment

  1. What a great article, fantastic journalism and well done for raising awareness of the campaign for Simon On The Streets and the sleep out this Thursday. If you’re joining in with the sleep out then please don’t forget that the only thing that is important is the amount of money you raise, not the actual sleep out itself.

    Well done to SoTS for adopting this new, gritty, brave brand – it makes a real statement and I hope will go on to be a real point of difference for them.

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