Our history

A pioneer group of four companions from existing Emmaus communities built their own accommodation and started a skeleton enterprise.

When one room was finished, and the community could afford it, a new companion moved in, adding to the existing roles and helping create another room, and the process escalated.

Companions took ownership of their community, learnt new skills and developed in confidence and self-worth.

The first Emmaus community was founded in Paris, in 1949, by Father Henri-Antoine Grouès, better known as Abbé Pierre. He was an MP, Catholic priest and former member of the French Resistance who fought to provide homes for those who lived on the streets of Paris.

Emmaus had been established in France for 40 years before it came to the UK in the early 1990s, all thanks to a chance encounter at a Cambridge soup kitchen.