Homelessness charity, Emmaus Hampshire has received a significant boost thanks to a £5,200 donation from parishioners at St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Winchester.
The money pushes Emmaus further towards its target of £280,000 to build eight additional studio flats at its Bar End facility. Work has recently started on the project, which will enable the charity to offer its unique blend of housing and support to 40 homeless people by the summer of 2020.
Each quarter, St Peter’s has a fundraising weekend for a different charity and the church chose Emmaus Hampshire for its Advent campaign. Parish priest, Father Mark Hogan presented the donation to the charity’s Chair, Hazel Warwick on Tuesday 14th January.
Hazel said: “We are very grateful to the congregation at St Peter’s for their generosity. Completing this project is fundamental to our plan to support the ever-increasing number of homeless people in Hampshire who, through no fault of their own, live in one of the most expensive areas of the UK.”
The charity is building eight flats for what it would cost to buy just one on the open market, demonstrating how Emmaus delivers outstanding value for money within the local social housing sector. St Peter’s donation will be used to furnish the new apartments.
Father Mark Hogan said: “This is our parish’s fourth fundraising appeal for Emmaus in the past 10 years. We funded its first furniture collection van and have subsequently raised money towards training courses and furnishing additional rooms for Companions.
“When Emmaus launched Project 40@20, we felt this was the time to support them once more; homelessness and isolation are some of the most grievous challenges in our society today, and our parish community was very keen to support this excellent project.”
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