Glen Hansard, Bono, Damien Rice, Mark Logan, and more Irish performers will be live streaming from Dublin this Christmas Eve, December 24, to plug the €1.5 million fundraising gap for Dublin’s Simon Community.
This year’s Christmas Eve busk for charity will be live-streamed at 9 pm GMT / 4pm EST on Friday, December 24 across the Dublin Simon YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram channels, featuring a series of interviews alongside musical and spoken word performances recorded in the iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Irish performers Glen Hansard, Bono, Damien Rice, Nialler9, The Frames, Lisa O’Neill, and Liam Ó Maonlaí are all lending their talents to the beloved Christmas Eve tradition this year.
IrishCentral is delighted to also be featuring the special Christmas Eve busk for the Simon Community from Dublin right here:
The special event is free and available to all, with viewers being urged to please donate what they can to help the 24,000 people the Simon Community supports across Ireland each year at SimonBusk.ie. The collective intends to release a record of the unique performance in 2022 as a further boost to the organization’s fundraising.
2021 marks the second year that the legendary Simon Christmas Eve Busk will not draw crowds to Grafton Street in Dublin to raise vital funds for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The annual event, which raised €1.5 million in 2020, had been canceled again due to Covid-19 restrictions, only to be rescued at the final hour by Collective Films’ Mark Logan, who is pulling the project together with support from a host of stars including
Logan, the co-founder of Artist and Collective Films, said: “To have been able to show up at this strange and painful time to produce and direct this film has been a privilege and honor.
"Homelessness in Ireland resides deep within the inherent and structural classism in our society. It’s time we dismantled that. Record numbers of our people find themselves on the streets and that is unacceptable to me.
"In making the film, we got to create and build friendships with our country’s musical leaders, who I believe use their voice for humanity and see music as a vehicle to raise the voices of those who often go unheard.”
Logan added: “When we got the call from Dublin Simon, we knew we had to do something, and with only 12 days until Christmas Eve, we had to act fast. The goodwill and determination of people in pulling this event together has been truly inspiring.
"We’re nearly at the finish line now and we’re so excited to see this come to life to raise vital funds and awareness for the men, women and children experiencing homelessness across Ireland this Christmas.”
Emma Kilkenny, Head of Fundraising at Dublin Simon Community, said: “In a lot of ways, this year has been an even more challenging year for fundraising than last.
"The public has been stretched so much over the past two years by the physical, financial and emotional toll of the pandemic, and the same is true for our clients, residents and services. Many of our clients are experiencing serious mental and physical health issues and we are also seeing a new cohort of older people coming to us for help. As we faced closing out 2021 with a €1.5 million shortfall, Mark, Damian, and Glen came through with a Christmas miracle.
“On behalf of the men, women, and children who rely on our services, we would like to say thank you to all the artists, crew, and creatives who have made this event possible and the public who have donated so far.
"Our donation portal SimonBusk.ie is now live and we would urge people to please donate what they can to ensure the continuation of our life-saving services into 2022.”
The donation portal at SimonBusk.ie will remain live throughout the Christmas period. Donations can also be made via telephone in Ireland at 01 671 551. All funds raised through the Simon Christmas Eve Busk will go towards the 24,000 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness The Simon Community supports each year.
About The Simon Community
The Simon Community supports over 24,000 men, women and children experiencing or at risk of homelessness across Ireland. Its services include:
- Homelessness prevention, tenancy sustainment, and resettlement
- Street outreach, emergency accommodation, and harm reduction
- Housing with support and Housing First services
- Homeless specific health and wellbeing services (counseling, addiction treatment, and recovery, and mental health supports)
- Personal development, education, training, and employment services
Foodbanks, drop-in centers, and soup runs
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