Emmaus Leeds marked a significant milestone on Friday 20 October as we celebrated our 20th anniversary. We commemorated two decades of positive impact with a birthday bash that brought together supporters, members of the public, esteemed city officials, and many more.
The event, hosted at the charity’s Secondhand Superstore on St Mary’s Street in Leeds, was attended by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Al Garthwaite. She said: “Tonight was my first visit to Emmaus Leeds and I’m very impressed with what I have seen. I think the rooms and the facilities for the residents are great. Emmaus Leeds is a very worthwhile social enterprise and I hope it continues for more than another twenty years.”
During the course of the night, Emmaus Leeds donated a £500 cheque to another local homelessness organisation, Homeless Street Angels. Solidarity is one of Emmaus Leeds’ core values and helping others is hugely important.
Shelley Joyce, Co-founder of Homeless Street Angels said:
“We go out every Thursday night and feed and clothe about 100 guys on the streets. Now the weather is getting colder and rainy our guys need all the help they can get. Every week we normally hand out about 12 sleeping bags so I will be using the money to buy some more sleeping bags which are absolute life savers to the guys on the streets. We have worked alongside Emmaus Leeds for a few years now and team work really does make the dream work and we can’t thank them enough.”
Talking about the evening of celebrations, Gina Morrison, Executive Lead at the charity, said: “Thank you to everyone who joined us on Friday to celebrate the 20th birthday of Emmaus Leeds. It was a pleasure to see so many familiar faces and new ones too. “pecial thanks to the Lord Mayor for taking the time to join us, and to our Companions for sharing their catering and hospitality skills.”
To find out more about the work Emmaus Leeds does visit: www.emmaus.org.uk/leeds