My friend John Jennings, who has died aged 88, was founder and director of the Liverpool Simon Community, a charity for homeless people.
John was working as an inspector for the Liverpool Port Health Authority in the 1960s when he learned about the founding of the Simon Community in London by Anton Wallich-Clifford, a probation officer who was seeking new approaches to helping people on the streets.
In 1966, using his own modest savings and £500 raised from friends, John gave up his job and founded the Liverpool Community, purchasing a shop premises in Fox Street, Everton. He distributed sandwiches and opened a night shelter. In 1968 the Catholic archdiocese loaned a large house in nearby Shaw Street, and in 1971 a “house for homeless youths” was bought.
In the winter of 1972, after a request from a local Methodist minister, John opened a Simon house in Rochdale, and in 1973 the charity’s name was changed to Petrus. Later, a night shelter opened in the crypt of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, in conjunction with Catholic social services, accommodating 30 men nightly, amounting to 1,000 individuals each year. In 1979 a second community house and a dry house for recovering alcoholics were opened.
Initially the community survived on donations in kind from many sources, including a local bakery, the Little Sisters of the Poor religious community, and traders at the nearby Paddy’s Market. After articles were published in the Catholic Herald and the Liverpool Echo, cash donations began coming in. Community volunteers also conducted street and pub collections at weekends.
The community was staffed mostly by young volunteers, who came for six months and worked for board and lodging. In an era when homeless provision was often authoritarian and paternalistic, residents at Petrus were treated with consideration and respect, whatever their circumstances, sharing cooking and sleeping arrangements.
Though John was Catholic and socialist in belief, the community eschewed any overt religious or political associations. The ethos was communal and humanitarian. John himself was mild mannered, even tempered, practical and pragmatic. Young volunteers found him an inspiration, with many going on to successful careers in the caring professions.
Born into a Catholic family in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, he was one of the four children of John Sr, a railway worker, and his wife, Mary (nee Walsh). After attending Yew Tree secondary school in Liverpool he worked at a butchers’ shop before doing his national service with the army, spending some time on a posting in Austria. On his return he worked for the Port Health Authority until making his decision to devote the rest of his life to working with homeless people.
John retired from Petrus in 1990, and in time the various services provided by Petrus were absorbed by local housing associations. He continued as an organiser and volunteer in community initiatives, including the Drive Community Hub, Dovecot, and St Dominic’s food bank.
John’s siblings predeceased him. He is survived by 14 nieces and nephews.
