Church leaders in Bradford are helping to spearhead plans for an ‘Emmaus’ homeless hostel with the opening of a temporary furniture and bric-a-brac store in the city.
The new Emmaus unit is open on Sundays from 10am – 3pm at Unit 12 of the Accent Business Centre, off Barkerend Rd, directly adjacent to St Mary’s Church, BD3 9BD. It will run each week until July 17th, and the Emmaus Committee have appealed for anyone with items to give to the centre to make contact.
Churches are well represented among the Emmaus Bradford organisers – with two leaders of the Inn Churches and Light church and Anglican vicar, the Revd Stephen Treasure, of St Oswald's and All Saints, Bradford. And Emmaus also has a shop in the new Inn Churches premises at the Storehouse on Caledonia Street.
“Emmaus is an organisation with the strapline, Working together to end Homelessness,” says Stephen. “Running Inn Churches over a number of years has shown many of us how difficult and demeaning it is to live as a homeless person.
Stephen adds, “The purpose of Emmaus is to set up a community in the city and provide homeless people a place to live and daily work to do; the principle is to end dependence, allow people to become economically useful and have the prospect of managing their own property and work in future. We are starting with a shop; the aim is to raise funds and also get the Emmaus name known, so that when the community opens there is a viable business operating.”
If you have good quality items to dispose of, please phone 07776 186176 or email EmmausBradford@outlook.com. You can also check the facebook page at Emmaus Bradford.
“We have a van, and are able to collect – and deliver – goods within a reasonable distance” says Stephen.