Here at Emmaus Cornwall, we are excited to announce a £1million fundraising target and the appointment of four new trustees in a bid to open the county’s first Emmaus community to help combat rising homelessness in the area.
Our proposed Emmaus Cornwall community will provide a unique residential setting for people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, and will offer a home with no time limit, work experience in a social enterprise, daily support and funded training. There are currently 29 established Emmaus communities cross the UK.
According to the latest government rough sleeper count, Cornwall had more rough sleepers last year than any other county in the UK. Cornwall Council has revealed that, since March this year, 640 households have needed emergency housing and highlighted a sharp rise in people becoming at risk of being forced to sleep rough due to the pandemic.
Joining our current Board of Trustees is a Sunday Times bestselling author, Raynor Winn, the former Philanthropy Director of Cornwall Community Foundation, Jo Riley, Digital Communications and Transformation Consultant, Nina Ludgate, and Independent Consultant at Mister Modular, Mike Norris.
Raynor, who wrote of her own experience of homelessness in her 2018 memoir The Salt Path, said: “Emmaus communities give homeless people that sense of possibility, that reason to go on, and a sense of community. Emmaus Cornwall is working to create amazing projects that will offer help and hope to some of Cornwall’s many homeless people – I’m very excited to join the board and play a part in that.”
Jo, who has lived in Cornwall since 2003, saw the increasing levels of homelessness across the county in her role as Philanthropy Director at Cornwall Community Foundation. She said: “I am proud to have been appointed a trustee and to be leading the Fundraising, Communications and Engagement Committee as we go forward.”
Nina brings expertise from a career in film, digital media and visitor attraction to the charity. She said: “I am delighted to have joined the board and to be chairing the Business Enterprise and Management Committee. We have exciting plans afoot and I can’t wait to bring them to fruition.”
Mike, who has successfully delivered more than 150 projects throughout the UK during his 25 years’ in the modular and off-site construction sector, said: “I can’t even begin to contemplate the despair of finding yourself homeless with no support, and I’m thrilled to be able to play a small part in working with Emmaus Cornwall to help those in desperate need.”
Despite the impact of COVID-19, the team behind Emmaus Cornwall has continued to pursue various possibilities for setting up a community in Cornwall, as our Chair of Trustees, Sue Trewella, explains: “We are getting accustomed to using Zoom as a means of holding meetings and we are delighted to welcome Raynor, Jo, Nina and Mike to our board. We are very aware that this pandemic will only exacerbate the problem of homelessness everywhere in the country, meaning that we need to establish our community in Cornwall as soon as possible.”
We hope to raise a total of £1million over the next few years to help us open the first Emmaus community in Cornwall. To help us by donating, visit www.emmaus.pleasecheck.me/cornwall. If you would like to get involved with Emmaus Cornwall, contact emmauscornwall@gmail.com