Duke of Westminster kickstarts fundraising campaign
The Duke of Westminster kindly hosted a dinner for Emmaus Liverpool at his Cheshire residence, Eaton Hall on the 10th March. The Dinner has so far led to pledges of cash and promises of equipment that are worth over £200,000, and has been a considerable boost to the charity’s efforts to raise the £2.65 million that it needs to cover all the costs of its project.
The night also provided an opportunity for the charity to liaise with a number of contacts who could prove useful to the future development of the project. Some of the guests at the dinner included the Chief Executive of Tesco’s Sir Terry Leahy, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, the Salvation Army’s director for social services in the North West, Major Graham Longmore and Diane Summers from the North West Development Agency.
The charity used the dinner to reveal the plans that they have of their site in the Islington regeneration area. Guests were shown plans of how the charity intends to provide accommodation and employment for over twenty five companions in Liverpool. The evening saw a speech from the chairman of Downing developments, George Downing who outlined some of the ideas that he intends to implement in the project in Liverpool.
The Duke of Westminster opened the evening with a speech about Emmaus Liverpool. He told guests that he thought that the work that the charity has already done to rehabilitate homeless people in other areas across the country had been very successful. He also told guests that he has been attracted to the charity because of the way that it has performed a vital role in rebuilding the lives of some of the people that have retired from military service, and have become homeless after they have fallen into depression or alcoholism. At present around 25% of companions in Emmaus communities across the country have a background of military service, and have sought help from the charity after experiencing difficulties on returning home. The Duke said that he thought that an Emmaus community would work well in Liverpool, as it could help to rehabilitate the lives of people that are currently subsisting upon charitable handouts.
Guests were served a three course dinner that had been arranged by the Duke of Westminster and was cooked by staff at the Grosvenor Hotel in Chester. This was followed by speeches from Graham Parker of Emmaus Liverpool and the Chairman of U.K Emmaus Trustees, John Grieves. Both told the guests about their personal experiences with Emmaus, and how they thought that the project in Liverpool could provide a vital service that could work well in co-operation with other homeless charities in the city.
Published on 10th March, 2010
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