We are excited to announce that we have now completed construction on our new upcycling workshop to restore preloved items donated by our lovely customers.
The workshop is part of our Building a Better Future project, which aims to secure the long-term future of Emmaus Dover at Archcliffe Fort – home to 27 people who have experienced homelessness.
Items brought back to life in the new workshop will be sold in our two secondhand shops, where all funds generated help to provide a home, work and training for the people we support – known as companions.
Companion Matthew Stock (pictured) specialises in furniture restoration. He says: “The new workshop is a much safer and more comfortable place to work, and the amount of natural light is great. I’ve been really looking forward to doing what I love again and have many ideas in the pipeline, depending on the donations we receive. It’s very exciting to have a fresh start.”
Debra Stevenson, Community Manager at Emmaus Dover, adds: “Reuse has always been a big part of our ethos at Emmaus, so we’re thrilled to have our new upcycling workshop up and running.
“It’s a fantastic space and will give our companions the chance to develop their carpentry skills and design ideas, so they can continue creating more beautiful pieces for our customers to take home.”
Alongside the workshop, we have remodelled our warehouse and storage facility with a new PAT testing room. Local organisations, such as The Albert Hunt Trust and Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, helped us reach our £230k target for the new workshop and warehouse, with local company HGT Construction appointed to complete the building work.
Fundraising for phase two of our Building a Better Future project will begin later this year.