A group of Leeds residents who went ‘wash-free’ for a month have raised £1,300 for Emmaus Leeds.

Throughout the month of April the four friends from Burley, Headingley, Meanwood and Pudsey completed the ‘Greasy Locks’ challenge to raise money for Emmaus Leeds. The group set themselves a fundraising target of £500 but far exceeded that amount with donations from kind-hearted friends, relatives and work colleagues.

Ann Hall, organiser of the ‘Greasy Locks’ fundraiser for Emmaus Leeds, said: “This was a fun and interesting challenge but not once did we forget the purpose for doing this. There is no ‘us and them’, we wanted to highlight an ever increasing problem that some of us fellow humans face daily. We are so pleased with the awareness and donations we raised for Emmaus. I think we were all so relieved when April was over though; it was like a countdown to New Year’s Eve.”

Emmaus Leeds supports 26 formerly homeless people by providing them with a stable home and meaningful work for as long as they need it. The charity has its main community building and social enterprise on St Mary’s Street, and also runs a stall at Kirkgate Market.

Donald Forrester, Chief Executive of Emmaus Leeds, said: “We are all blown away by the support of the ‘Greasy Locks’ four and the amount they have raised for Emmaus Leeds. Thank you to organiser Ann, her fellow fundraisers and the many generous people who made a donation to their challenge.”

To find out more about the work of Emmaus Leeds head to www.emmaus.org.uk/leeds. For more information, to donate an item or get involved as a fundraiser call 0113 248 4288 or visit Emmaus Leeds at St Mary’s Street, Leeds, LS9 7DP.