Foreigners Galore Among London Homeless Dead Named At St. Martin's Service. Blog Edited By Uncle Monty.

Foreigners Galore Among

London Homeless Dead Named

At St. Martin's Service.

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News Report By Independent

Catholic News - ICN.

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Blog Edited By Uncle Monty.

Page Design By Alex Albion.
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Many of the homeless people who died on the streets of London over the past year came from Poland and other countries in Eastern Europe. Their names were among more than 200 read out at the Annual Service of Commemoration at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields on Thursday, 12th November. The service is organised by the Connection at St. Martins and Housing Justice annually during Remembrance Week.

It brings together the agencies and churches working to assist people who are homeless and vulnerable, as well as homeless people themselves, to remember those who have died over the year, whether still on the streets, in hostels or in their own accommodation. Volunteers and staff who have died are also commemorated. Rev'd Richard Carter of St Martin's-in-the-Fields led the service and read out the first set of names. Also reading out names were Jo Nurse of the Simon Community, Bandi Mbubi of the Manna Centre and Kaz Mayes of the Connection at St Martins. Following the names each reader gave a short personal reflection on the life of someone they knew who had died, remembering and paying respect to people with often troubled and shortened lives. All who were present were then invited to write a name on leaves to attach to a hand painted vine, representing the scripture 'I am the vine you are the branches'. The vine with all the names was then lifted up in front of the altar. The vine was painted by artistic director Rosemary Cockayne and a team of volunteers from her art group at Chelsea Methodist Church. Musical contributions were made by "The Choir with No Name" and "Streetwise Opera", including the hymn 'Dear Lord and Father of mankind', 'Bridge over Troubled Water' and "There's a place for us" from West Side story. Other music was provided by a trio leading the congregation in Taize singing, and during the symbolic lifting up of the vine. Poems, prayers and the Gospel reading were given by people representing many of the different churches and agencies working to help homeless people in London, including Major Valerie Mercer of the Salvation Army. The Right Rev'd David Walker, Anglican Bishop of Dudley and former Chair of Housing Justice, gave a reflection. He said: "Today is about remembering those who have died without a home or on the edges of our society. We remember and give thanks to God for their lives and for the ways in which they have touched and enriched our lives. In life many may have passed them by, but today their names ring out across this city". Rev'd Richard Carter of St Martin's-in-the-Fields commented: "This is one of the most moving and important services which takes place in this church each year. It is also one of the most disturbing. This year the list of those who have died is longer than ever and today we remembered 200 people who have died in the last year. The theme "I am the vine, you are the branches," recognises that we belong to one another and belong to God, each person deserving human dignity love and respect. " Recognising that if one part of our society suffers we all must feel it and that a society will be judged by the way it treats it's most vulnerable members. Today's list of names includes those who came from overseas seeking sanctuary, work and hope, the fact that we are reading out their names today and the names of many others shows that they did not find it and it confronts us with the urgency of the need which exists for those living on our streets who are often treated with suspicion and intolerance and even hate. " Alastair Murray of Christian campaigning charity Housing Justice said: "The service is always an attempt to solemnly remember those who have died, but also to celebrate people who have lived life on their own terms. When the hand painted vine with all the names was raised up in front of the altar it was a powerful symbol of shared hope, even in the midst of struggle and suffering".
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Homeless!

:: UPDATE ::

Peggy Marshall, R.N. said...
"I have a serious query for you. Who counts the homeless people that have died since the last service to them at St. Martin in the Fields? The numbers are reported to be "more than 200" this year. According to those numbers one homeless person has died at least every other day in London during the past 1 year. I am sure that too many homeless people die for one reason or another on the streets. But 200 or more of them seems a wild figure to me to be honest about it. If another group of people were dying at the rate of 200 or more each year then there would be alarm bells going off all over the place. I seriously suspect that reporting a homeless person to be dead is not verified by public death records. I wonder if the organisers of the service includes the name of whoever it is that is given to them without wondering if the death in question is real or bogus or just made up or simply surmised? Can you or someone answer my query? I have been only to one service a few years ago. It was sad to hear those names being read out. I think the number of homeless dead was about 75 read out then. It seemed alot to me even then. But now more than 200 people in the year have died as homeless. That I find so hard to believe.

Are the death figures true? Some how I doubt it."

Peggy Marshall, R.N. 11/14/2009 09:03:00 AM.

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Response From Jo Siedlecka of

Independent Catholic News - ICN.

Re: was there really 200 or more homeless dead?

Hi - The number has been around 200 plus for several years now.

I think that is homeless people who have died around the country -

although a high number of those are in London. You can check

with the Simon Community who do a regular street count.
Jo Siedlecka ICN. 16 Nov 2009 05:20:33 -0000 (GMT).
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Then, St. Martin's Roger Shaljean states:

Dear Monty,
Thanks for this. I'm not sure who Peggy Marshall is nor why

she thinks our figure is 'wild'. The names represent individual

people who had been homeless and were known personally to any

one of the thirty agencies who responded from the Housing Justice

network. If anyone chose to fabricate a name we may not have

noticed but at such a juncture that seems unlikely. The service is

what it says.....a Commemoration. It does not pretend to contribute

to social policy nor to collect statistics....... though as the numbers

involved and our concern for the human beings who died often

sadly and the encouragement given to homeless performers

speaks volumes. As the Bishop of Dudley said in spite of

their suffering..... they have enriched our lives.
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Could I ask, Monty where the photographs came from that

were attached to the report on our service? They appeared

to be stereotyped individuals and not too representative

of folk who came to our service!
Roger Shaljean. 16 Nov 2009 16:37:48 -0000.

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Uncle Monty Replies ...
no fabrication, roger!!!
hello dear roger: so good to hear from you as usual. i

don't think peggy marshall is suggesting in any way that

the names may have been fabricated. i think she was so

shocked to read so many names of the homeless dead that
she wondered if there had been an error in the numbers

or the names given. i myself was shocked, too, at the

huge numbers when i first read the independent

catholic news report for this year's service.

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i agree wholeheartedly with bishop david walker that such

lives have indeed enriched us all. when peggy raised the

fact that based on the 200+ numbers that had been listed as

the homeless dead for 2oo9, she figured that by those numbers

alone some homeless person had died every other day. certainly,

200 dead homeless persons over a span of 365 days, is truly stag-

gering, roger, by any account!! you are right to state that the ser-

vice is not in the business of collecting statistics of whatever kind.

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as for the photos used of homeless persons in my blog piece

on st. martin's, they are from my own archives of photos of the

homeless spanning the world. i did not, however, include any

of my own images of the many homeless i have photographed

around the globe. after your insightful comment on the photos

used, i regret to say that you're right since they are stereotypical

images that do not represent those persons seen at st. martin's

commemoration services, that like you, i have also attended. in

future, i will use my own homeless images in such a future report

on st. martin's. sadly, i was unable again to attend this year since

i was on call as a sworn court witness at blackfrairs crown court

after being robbed by four thugz on the bus of almost two years

ago. ironically, i was then on my way to attend the interfaith ser-

vice at st. andrew's that saw there bishops christopher chessun,

bernard longley and augustus basil. and last year, i was unable

again to attend since i was personally invited to st. clement

danes royal air force service that saw, among others,

general sir richard and lady pippa dannett in

attendence as important military guests.

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as you know roger, i have quite a busy schedule of things

planned months ahead, so if i'm not invited to attend some

other event beforehand then it is likely i'll be unable to attend

something else like the worthy commemoration service.

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i should point out, too, that i have not yet heard back from

alastair murray himself on the peggy marshall matter ...

in any event, i do hope my reply here to you is cogent

and proper! incidentally, i'm off next to vancouver ...
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{this just in} peggy marshall tells me she is now just so sorry

for being perhaps blunt and suspecting of the numbers. she

tells me, too, she'll make an extra donation this christmastide

to one of the charities involved with the service. i think that is

quite decent of her. i am not privy to tell you much about her

since i have only met her briefly about five years ago.

faithfully, monty. +margaret, queen of scotland (bcp), 2oo9.

11/16/09 10:53 PM EST.

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Alastair Murray Now Further Explains:

Dear Monty
I could not reply as I have not been in the office between

Friday and lunchtime today, and my blackberry is not

yet in synch with our new server.
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The press release I prepared, which you copied onto your

blog, makes clear that the names that were read were not

just those people who had died homeless on the street, but

also includes people in hostels and those in their own

accommodation.

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The post from Peggy indicates that she has misunderstood this.

All the different agencies - hostels, churches, day centres, outreach

teams, health services – send the names of those known to them who

have died over the year, as even when formerly homeless people have

been housed many often continue to use homelessness services. This

is the rationale for the inclusion of their names in this service.
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I did receive names from other parts of the country, but did not

include them. I hope however to compile a list which will include

those names, to post on our website, when I can.
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I’m copying this to all on your Cc list for info, and hope this

helps clarify the misunderstanding. Best wishes Alastair
http://www.housingjustice.org.uk/
17 Nov 2009 13:58:19 +0000.

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Uncle Monty's Reply To Alastair:

and now the death count includes the ex-homeless, right?

while you certainly did state such in your press release, i didn’t

understand it to mean you were also including and counting

the ex-homeless dead among this year’s commemoration

service. of the half-dozen or so online news reports i read, a
day or so after the service itself, there was no mention in such
news reports of the ex-homeless dead among the count of

200 or more listed names for 2oo9.
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Such then is a new dimension, it seems to me, for the annual

st. martin’s service, if it now includes the ex-homeless dead,

too. the problem with that is that someone like say the big

issue co-founder john bird could be listed as an ex-homeless

dead person upon his death even though he hasn’t actually

been homeless for 30 years or more! what this also means is

once you start including the ex-homeless among the annual

dead, then the figures soon become almost mind-boggling in

sheer numbers that could include thousands of ex-homeless

from both the present and the long past. also, if you have say

thirty different agencies giving out names or nicknames of

the dead at what point is the person then listed as home-

less or ex-homeless dead by one or more agencies?

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one agency may declare the person is “homeless dead”

under one name, while another may declare the person is

“ex-homelesss dead” under say a known nickname. thus,

the death figures can soon become horribly distorted

instead of a true figure of strictly the homeless dead.

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so if you are planning in future to formally include the

deaths of the ex-homeless, then the st. martin’s service

should clearly state that – “the commemoration service

is both to the homeless and ex-homeless dead.” That will

then, alastair, help to openly explain to the good and car-

ing folkz like peggy marshall, and others, why the home-

less death numbers seem so terribly high. and, also
why such is getting sadder by each passing year ...
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out of all of this, however, i think it is right and proper to

also publicly express our many humble thankz to such fine

and shining Christian folkz like you, and our beloved roger

shaljean of anglican st. martin’s, for bringing the annual

commemoration service that marks one of the best of the

English Church’s ecumenical endeavours of today. Bravo!!
truly, monty. +lord, hide me in the shadow of your

wings, 2oo9. cc: peggy marshall, et al.
11-18-2009 02.02.34.07 EST

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Re: and now the death count includes the ex-homeless, right?

Monty - Why write such a sarcastic note? With what authority?

The service was for homeless people who have died. Some of

them died in hostels, or even hospital, so technically they had a

roof over theirheads but not a home. As a journalist who has

worked on London papers for more than 20 years I find the figure

of 200 totally believable. Often on a Monday morning police call we

are told about people found dead - either on the street, in parks or

in a homeless shelter. Many more die in hospital. Police determine

that they are homeless from the state of their clothes - shoes

particularly, and the fact that they have no address - except

perhaps details of a night shelter. Unfortunately some aren't

discovered for along time. It is so common it is not 'news'.

Jo Siedlecka editor Independent Catholic News.

www.indcatholicnews.com/

18 Nov 2009 10:06:41 -0000 (GMT)

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To Jo Siedlecka From Uncle Monty.

hardly sarcastic, jo!!
hello jo: my intention wasn't to write a sarcastic note, but

rather to ask (pragmatically) if the death count now includes

the ex-homeless and not just the current homeless dead.

i feel this whole matter is getting me cross! i still think the

death figure of 200+ is a staggering number no matter what.

i think, too, that peggy marshall was right to first raise the

issue of the numbers listed as dead for 2oo9. i am aware,

along with you, that the appalling homeless circumstances

of many found dead is not news worthy since

"it is so common it is not 'news'."

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when i myself was homeless on the streets of washington, d.c.,

it was not uncommon to find homeless men and women literally

frozen to death at dupont circle with the city copz and morticians

collecting such human bodies right next to me!! in one instance,

george bush himself rode by in his bullet-proof presidential limo
just moments after they'd collected yet another homeless

dead body (in the bleak american mid-winter)! so there!!

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while i was at melbourne, australia, last year for the sixth homeless

world cup, i happened upon a rubbish heap that i had been told was

where some of the local homeless folk sometimes slept. there i found
one dead homeless man in his late 30's just left there like he was
garbage. i cried inside! it was not news reported, either. nor did i
report such on my oz story nor publish the photos i took of the grisly
scene. as a news photographer by profession, and now retired, death
always knocks at the most unlikely place and many are oftentimes

those folkz who are homeless and marginalized. i was also later told

that the local australian had been there dead for perhaps 10 days

or more. the body strench was what made me first discover him.

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after such first-hand and upfront experiences, jo, i could

hardly be "sarcastic," despite what you say of me!!

truthly, monty. +do not be afriad of those

who kill the body, 2oo9.

11-18-2009 10:51 59.00 AM CST.
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