POSITIVE IMPACT ON SO MANY LIVES

Emmaus South Lambeth has become a beacon of hope in my constituency.

It enables people to gain a foothold from which they can get back into every day living.

Emmaus is passionate about helping people who, for whatever reason, have become homeless. It helps them to rebuild their strength, both physically and emotionally and provides support in what, faced alone, would be an almost impossibly daunting struggle.

I very much welcome the opening of the new Emmaus accommodation in my constituency. I commend, and wholeheartedly support, the superb work of everyone connected with Emmaus South Lambeth that has, and will continue to have, such a positive impact on so many individual lives.

The Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell,   MP Dulwich and West Norwood

RESTORING ENERGY, PURPOSE AND DIGNITY

What a wonderful feeling three weeks ago to turn, as I had a hundred times before in the decade that I had known it, into the yard in front of our once long-neglected and derelict Victoria horse-drawn tram-shed but this time to find Companions of Emmaus were yet again breathing life into their community, restoring energy, purpose and dignity to people and places.

The tram-shed now named Bobby Vincent House, Companions had just launched as a new Emmaus family. All power and blessings to them the trustees.

Nick Kittoe, Chair of Trustees

PRECISE MILITARY OPERATION

On Wednesday 17th October after much anticipation we received handover of the new Emmaus accommodation block.

We opened our doors to four core Companions who have been instrumental in getting us up and running as a fully functioning Community.

Without their commitment, expertise and knowledge of Emmaus we would have struggled to achieve so much.

Precise military operation

One of the images ingrained in my mind was of the day the Companions arrived. This image will probably haunt me for years to come: the bedroom furniture arrived and was left by delivery men on our doorstep, many pieces of furniture including beds, wardrobes, chests and bedside cabinets standing in the car park. At this point, after a few 'oh my goodness' or words to that effect, a precise military operation started to get it all into the rooms.

Thanks to the hard work of the Companions and volunteers this enormous task was completed in two days - obviously there were one or two cases of fine tuning.