We rely on our ageing fleet of vans not only for our social enterprise operation but for daily food collections, twice weekly city centre soup kitchens, supporting local food banks, community outreach, and homelessness support. The introduction of LEZ zones into Glasgow city centre in June 2023 will mean that we will not be able to deliver many of our vital services without financial penalty (£85 per day) due to the age of our fleet.
Emmaus (pronounce E-May-Us) is a homeless charity with a difference. We don’t just give people a bed for the night; we offer a home and meaningful work, training and a sense of belonging. We offer supported accommodation for 27 people who have experienced homelessness. We also provide 2 weekly evening soup kitchens, support many city-wide food banks and provide free furniture to those most in need in the city.
We don’t receive funding from the Government or local council funding. We aim to raise money through our various social enterprises such as our shops and House Clearances supported by our Companions and army of volunteers.
As with the people we support we have been managing through difficult times through Covid (where we had to close our shops) and now spiralling increases in costs such as our heating bill for our main accommodation and offices went up by an additional £40,000 this year. Food costs, diesel and running costs have also significantly increased. We have had to rely on our reserves to manage. We had a fleet of 3 vans and a people carrier.
What we need: We’ve had to retire one of our vans and the other two are high maintenance and getting old – one is now 11 years old with very high mileage and has been off the road for significant periods this year. Our People Carrier is also 10 years old. We’re currently raising funds to help us towards the cost of a new van. Please help us to continue to support the homeless and vulnerable in Glasgow by donating here.