Our Emmaus Burnley companion Pete joined over 200 people from more than 30 Emmaus communities and groups at the two-day Emmaus National Assembly at the University of Warwick in Coventry.
As one of the people supported Emmaus Burnley, Pete attended a special meeting of the Emmaus Companion Committee. This group meet regularly to represent the voices of people with experience of homelessness, review policies, gather feedback, share insights, collaborate and take part in training opportunities together.
Hearing guest speakers
Pete also attended one of the Assembly workshops about moving on from Emmaus and heard from guest speaker, Paula Barker MP, who is co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ending Homelessness in the main hall.
Asked about the experience, Pete said: “I learned that the MP is going to push on homelessness as she felt that the last government just pushed the issue to the back burner. I also heard from another guest speaker from Hull about the outreach services there and how communication is key with people who are street homeless for these services to be successful.
Most enjoyable
“What I enjoyed the most was the fellowship of the Emmaus Assembly. I felt I learned more from the interaction with other companions than anything else.”
Pete added he was taking back to the Emmaus Burnley community the belief that Emmaus is fighting a noble cause.
To find out more about support at Emmaus Burnley, you can visit our Get Help page for a video tour of our community home and how to apply.