Emmaus Colchester
175 Magdalen Street,Colchester,
Essex, CO1 2JX
Contact: General Manager : Keith Henrick, Community Leader : Fiona Broom, Deputy : Ecky Prolingheuer, Administrator : Anita Cleary . Business Manager : Greg Davidson
Phone: Community/Admin: 01206 541616
Shop Address:
Warehouse : 4A Arthur Street, Colchester, Essex, CO2 7DT 01206 768887
High Street Shop : EMPORIUM 103/4 High Street, Colchester, CO1 1HT 01206 768887
High Street Shop : HOME 99 High Street, Colchester, CO1 1HT 01206 768887
Shop Opening Hours:
Warehouse: Mon to Sat 9:00am-5:00pm
High St Shops: Mon to Sat 9.00am-5.30pm
Latest News
- 20/05/13 Support Emmaus campaign to protect night shelters
- 09/05/13 Arvinda Gohil, Chief Executive of homelessness charity Emmaus UK, responds to announcement of major probation reforms by Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary
- 25/04/13 Companions visit Paris with The Duchess of Cornwall
Welcome to Emmaus Colchester
HOT NEWS - NEW SHOP ON THE HIGH STREET!
We have recently opened a second shop on the High Street. The new shop is called EMMAUS HOME and will sell all sorts of high quality furniture including 'Shabby Chic' and excellent value white goods which have a six month warranty.
The old shop is now called EMMAUS EMPORIUM and sells a variety of clothing, bric-a-brac, books and records.
Of course, we still also have our much loved WAREHOUSE in Arthur Street, the entrance to Arthur Street is opposite the new bus station,come and see us while you wait for your bus.
The Emmaus Colchester Community
People lose their homes for an amazing variety of reasons; many of them not within the control of the individual. Emmaus is an organisation which allows people who have lost their homes to help themselves. In return for a home and their meals they are expected to come off benefits and to work for 40 hours per week. Companions are also expected to support the Emmaus principle of helping others less fortunate than themselves.
The Emmaus community house in Colchester has now been open four years this August 2012. During that time more than 120 people, (Companions), have lived and worked in our community. Emmaus gives Companions the chance to rebuild their lives in a supportive environment.
Although there is no limit to how long people can stay, many are with us only a short time. Our very first Companion Trevor, moved into his own flat after almost three years living in our Community. Trevor still helps as a volunteer, helping us to keep our kitchen spotless!
Other Companions regularly visit or volunteer as they have built up a circle of friends and we are able to help them with writing CV's, advising on how to budget and general day to day problems.
Furniture wanted and for sale
This year we will reach our target of becoming financially self-sufficient. This means that the work carried out by the companions, volunteers and staff, recycling and reselling used furniture, books, bric-a-brac and clothing in our shop and warehouse, together with some housing benefit, will cover the costs of running the community. So please keep thinking of us when you have things which are too good to go to the tip. Without your support in donating to and buying from us, we could not begin to cover our costs.
Recycle your ink cartridges and laser toners and support Emmaus Colchester
We have recently started collecting used printer cartridges and mobile phones for which the community receives 20% of the value from Wise Fundraising so please ask for a bag to donate your old equipment.We also receive 10% of the order value if you buy your new cartridges online.
Continuing with our Fundraising
Being self-sufficient doesn’t mean that we no longer need to raise funds. There are lots more things we would like to achieve. For example we would like to provide more training for the companions to help them with their futures. One of our aims is to provide moving-on accommodation’ as a next stage for companions to take a step towards being self sufficient and living in their own accomodation.I am pleased to say that this year our income from sale of donated furniture will enable this to become a reality. Furthermore it will allow us to help more people by freeing up rooms in the community house.
During the last year we have received donations from Lloyds TSB Foundation to help fund some of the staff costs which we incur and from our local branch of Linklaters to enable us to buy Emmaus uniforms for the Companions. Colchester Carnival gave us a grant to buy new PAT testing equipment and, most recently, a grant of £2,640 from "The Big Lottery Fund - see our News pages.
Many thanks to those organisations for their generous support.
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Follow us on Twitter at - @emmauscol