As the economy continues to falter, the Cork Simon shelter has seen an increase in the number of people looking to access their emergency shelter every night.

Just a few months ago the shelter found that they had to turn away about eight people from the facility on a daily basis but, over the past few weeks they have been forced to turn away 12 to 14 people in Cork every night.

The startling results come as Cork Simon today launches its new five year strategy today, A Better Life, A Better World Creating Pathways for Change.

The new strategy highlights how much Cork Simon has achieved since it was first established in 1977 but, stresses that much more must be done to ensure that nobody has to sleep rough.

It highlights that half of the beds in its emergency shelter are occupied by long term residents who simply have nowhere else to go and stresses that more long-term accommodation is needed to free up emergency beds.

The report also stresses that in the current economic climate the Simon Community in Cork will have to ensure it can guarantee government funding whilst also trying to maintain community funding from locals and businesses in Cork who provide 35 per cent of Simon's Income.

Speaking in advance of the launch of the report, Paul Sheehan, Campaigns & Communications Manager for Cork Simon highlighted how there has been much talk about commitments to ensure that no-one else will sleep rough by 2010 and improving services. "We absolutely agree with this and think we can achieve this in Cork. People have set out these commitments and asked how we can achieve this and this report from Cork Simon is our way of saying this is how it can be done", he said.

The report is set to be launched in Cork this afternoon by Deputy Lord Mayor Patricia Gosch. Speaking in advance of the launch, Cllr Gosch stressed that Simon are providing a vital service in Cork and said she hoped that they would be successful in implementing this vital plan.

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