The creator of France's 'Untouchables' houses

Laurent de Cherisey was fresh out of business school and looking forward to earning a lot of money when his sister had a car accident that left her severely disabled. This led him to re-think everything. Including finding faith. He founded what has become a string of houses where accident victims and non-accident victims live side by side.

They’re called the Simon of Cyrene houses, named after the man Jesus chose to help him carry his cross.

The project was financed in part by the box office receipts for the hit comedy Untouchable at the request of the aristocratic tetraplegic accident victim whose story inspired the film. We talk to Laurent about his journey and to some Simon of Cyrene house-dwellers about what’s good about these places - why it works bringing together people of very different social classes, ethnic and religious backgrounds and, above all, very different physical and mental capacities.

Image: Opening of Simon of Cyrène shared houses in Toulouse, 2025 (Credit: Association Simon de Cyrène)

Producer/Presenter: John Laurenson
Series producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno