James Ulysses Bond

James Ulysses Bond, born Christopher Wilson,[1] was a homeless person who lived in a tent by the River Cam in Newnham, Cambridgeshire. Bond contributed the story Eating Escargot in Sheffield to Willow Walker magazine,[2] which was excerpted in The Guardian newspaper.[3] After featuring in a documentary about homelessness, he was taken in over Christmas 2006 by Mick Lazarus of Milton, Cambridgeshire.[1] Bond took a place with Emmaus[4] but left, and later developed kidney problems. He died of natural causes[5] and was found dead on September 20, 2007. Lazarus offered to fund a funeral, but appealed in the Cambridge Evening News for help with the costs as neither he nor Bond's sister Wendi Wilson could afford to pay the full £1500.[4] The leader and deputy leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council donated to the appeal,[6] which eventually raised £1250.[1] The balance was paid by the newspaper's charity fund, Press Relief. A funeral was held at Cambridge Crematorium on October 16, 2007. Bond is among those remembered in the Cambridge Memorial Garden.[7]

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