Who we are

History and development of Emmaus Burnley

In the aftermath of the General Election 2005, Revd Lawrence Laycock (now Deputy Chair) and Peter Pike (Retired after spending 22 years as MP for Burnley, now Chair) agreed to form a campaigning group, to tackle the needs of homeless and socially excluded people in Burnley and East Lancashire. They convened a founding meeting on 29th November 2005, when a Steering Group was formed. In November 2006, the campaigning group was accepted as an affiliate emerging group in the federation of Emmaus UK, from whom they took their name Emmaus Burnley.

Emmaus Burnley are now on course to welcome their first Companions in 2010. The purchase of Booth Court, formerly sheltered accomodation for old people, has been completed and the building has been renamed Emmaus House; this will now be refurbished in order to allow it to become the residentail site for Emmaus Burnley's Companions. A suitable location for the retail site has also been identified, and it is hoped that a purchase can be completed in the near future.