Project Update: Emmaus By the Sea

CRASH paid a visit to Emmaus Brighton & Hove, a homelessness Community which the charity has been working with for a number of years, to see how they various developments are impacting the lives of the Companions (as residents are known).

The need

Emmaus offer homeless people a place to live and work, and an opportunity to integrate back into mainstream society. Companions work full time collecting, renovating and reselling donated furniture and other household goods. This work supports the Community financially and enables residents to develop skills, rebuild their self-respect and help others in greater need.

Brighton & Hove is a thriving Community with a popular café, a main shop offering household goods, an Emporium which houses the very best in vintage, retro and upcycled goods and a garden centre which sells a range of plants, shrubs and herbs grown by the Companions.

The solution

With the help of CRASH, the Community was able to transform a large pub into a second shop with a café situated close by in Portslade. They named the newly configured space Emmaus by the Sea. Emmaus Brighton & Hove is now the largest Emmaus Community in the UK with 48 Companions who staff their shops and cafés.

How patrons helped

The shop and café benefited from a much-needed coat of paint, smart new paving, making the entrance accessible for wheelchairs and buggies, and a new kitchen  as part of a volunteer project undertaken by CRASH Patrons Argent and BAM