A homelessness charity which lost £250,000 in revenue during the pandemic has received a timely boost from a Cambridgeshire housebuilder.
Bellway donated all the showhome furniture from its sold-out The Furrows development in Warboys to Emmaus Cambridge, for sale in the charity’s shop in Landbeach.
The charity, which was founded in Cambridge and is celebrating its 30th birthday this year, now has 29 ‘communities’ in the UK which are helping more than 800 people work their way back into society.
Diane Docherty, chief executive of Emmaus Cambridge, said: “We have a site in Landbeach, near Cambridge, which is a social enterprise community.
“We are providing homes, work and support here for 44 people who have found themselves homeless due to a variety of reasons which can include family breakdown, spells in prison or addiction to drink or drugs. What we do is offer long-term support to our ‘companions’ by giving them a full-time job in our shop or café or by teaching them how to drive or allowing them to study for college qualifications.”
Diane said that the charity, which is self-funded, lost a quarter of a million pounds in revenue due to the coronavirus crisis.
“We had to close for seven months and had to furlough staff and we reckon that we lost about £250,000 due to that whole situation,” said Diane. “We need about £1.3 million to run this social enterprise each year so you can see that is a massive hit.
“This donation from Bellway is very much appreciated. We have a shop where we sell second-hand goods and people were wanting to buy the furniture before we had even got it off the van.
“The furniture was brand new and so stylish and lovely. It beautified our shop and made the place look good. The furniture flew out of the shop and made us more than £1,000. We need to try to make up what we lost during the pandemic and this is a great boost.”
Emma Thomson, Sales Manager for Bellway Eastern Counties, said: “Emmaus Cambridge does amazing work to try to help people get their lives back on track.
“As a local housebuilder we are always looking at ways we can support the local community. This charity, like most, was very badly hit by the pandemic. It receives no central funding and has to generate its own income to survive.
“We were happy to be able to donate the furniture from a showhome and are delighted to hear that the sale of it raised more than a thousand pounds.”
The Furrows development has sold out, but Bellway is currently building new homes at two other developments in Cambridgeshire – The Vickers in Witchford and Bassingbourn Fields in Fordham.
For information about these developments, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/eastern-counties.
CAPTION:
- Bellway Sales Manager Emma Thomson and Head of Sales Rhiannon Jones with Emmaus volunteers Graham Haynes and David Westhead