Simon on the Streets unveils blue plaques for the homeless with McGrath O’Toole and Ponderosa
Homeless charity Simon on the Streets has unveiled a series of 20 blue plaques, intended to highlight the increased mortality rate of those sleeping rough.
Created pro-bono by McGrath O’Toole and Ponderosa for the charity, the plaques have been placed in Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield at urban sites used as shelters by the homeless.
Simon on the Streets Clive Sandle said: “I’m delighted with the concept and have been ever since it was first presented to me. We find that storytelling and case studies are often the best way to engage our stakeholders, including both donators and volunteers.
“We’re already experiencing increased interest in our work and are even using the vinyls as the basis of a social media scavenger hunt.”
The vinyl plaques are placed near the ground, to mark where the homeless people named in each would have slept.
Don McGrath of McGrath O’Toole said: “In towns and cities, many residents, and even visitors, have a propensity to ignore the homeless, developing an automatic reflex to help overlook them in the street.
“We, along with our friends at Ponderosa, wanted to employ an easily recognised visual motif that typically sparks interest and attracts attention in a way that those who sleep rough deserve.”
All 20 vinyls are inspired by real life case studies.
