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Our Story

Galway Simon Community

 
Galway Simon Community was set up in 1979 by a group of volunteers. They started doing a soup run initially twice weekly but were soon going out every night. The first soup run met only one person, Paddy Curran, a retired soldier.  More rough sleepers were soon found, especially with the help of Dennis Connolly. 

Galway Simon Today

 

With the support of the wider community we have grown, developed, learned and adapted over the years to become a leading provider of homeless services across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.
Fast forward to 2024 and today we have houses and apartments across Galway City and County, Mayo and Roscommon which provide homes to over 180 people at any one time. Over the years, the breadth of our services has expanded and as well as providing housing, we also provide Prevention & Tenancy Sustainment and Health & Wellbeing Services.

Our Services

Anton Wallich-Clifford

Founder, Simon Community 

The Simon Community was originally founded by Anton Wallich-Clifford, a probation officer working in London in the fifties and sixties, who noticed that many of people he worked with had one common factor; several of the names were followed by three simple letters, NFA – No Fixed Abode. Behind these letters lay a complex and overlooked deeper social issue: homelessness.

Simon Communities of Ireland

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In 1969, Anton Wallich-Clifford came to Ireland to recruit volunteers to work with the many Irish homeless people he was meeting in England. Through his inspiration the first Simon Community was established in Dublin that year. Today, there are eight Simon Communities around Ireland and together we provide a support network to over 20,000 people annually experiencing homelessness.