Christian homelessness charity Housing Justice and the Connection at St Martin in the Fields have announced details of the annual service of commemoration for homeless people who have died in the past year.
The event concludes with a moving listing of the people who have died homeless on the streets of London and other big cities in the past year.
In 2006 the deaths of almost 100 people were remembered.
Alison Gelder, Chief Executive of Housing Justice commented “all are welcome to come together at the service to reflect on the lives of those who have died homeless, and often in tragic circumstances, over the past year. In many cases this is the only time these lives will be remembered so it is especially important that these people’s deaths are marked in this way.”
Roger Shaljean from the Connection at St Martin’s says “This service is so affective because it is like a family service. We commemorate homeless people known to us and also staff and volunteers from the different agencies who died in the past year”
The ecumenical service will take place on Thursday 8 November 2007 at St Martin in the Fields Church, Trafalgar Square, starting at 11:30am and will feature a performance by Streetwise Opera.
The annual service of commemoration for homeless people who have died in the past year has taken place annually for over 15 years.
Housing Justice is the national voice of Christian action to prevent homelessness and bad housing. It was formed in April 2003 by the merger of two long-standing housing charities, the Catholic Housing Aid Society (CHAS) and the Churches National Housing Coalition (CNHC). In January 2006 Housing Justice merged with UNLEASH (Church Action on Homelessness in London).
It works with, and for, homeless and badly housed people of all faiths, and with those who have no religious beliefs.