Thanks to generous support from St Andrews Methodist Church, I’m pleased to announce that Emmaus South Manchester now has a home for our workshop and social enterprise operations.
The Emmaus RENU Workshop will be based in the former Sunday School rooms at St Andrews Methodist Church. Working with Reverend Dave Warnock, I’ve been getting our Wythenshawe workshop ready to welcome our first volunteers. It’s a fantastic space and a perfect location with some vibrant surrounding communities and good transport links. I know the area well and we are confident that this base will offer us everything we need to launch our social enterprise.
Once fully up and running, our social enterprise will provide practical experience and training to local volunteers and beneficiaries. We’ll make use of second-hand furniture and reclaimed materials which will mean more waste is diverted away from landfill. Products created, repaired or upcycled in the workshop will be sold and this revenue will go towards creating our new Emmaus community.
Our plan is to produce, restore and upcycle quality household, garden and gift items which we will sell from our workshop and online. We hope to open the workshop for visits but currently, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are unable to welcome visitors other than our volunteers.
A new beginning for RENU
We’ve inherited RENU, an existing social enterprise – first established by Manchester charity Barnabus – which gave people who experience homelessness the chance to upcycle furniture that would otherwise end up in a skip.
We will build on the fantastic work of former RENU project beneficiaries and expand the range of items on offer. As well as desirable furniture, our range will also include other interesting upcycled items such as hand-made clocks and rag rug items.
Building a diverse team
We’re starting to build a team of volunteers, supporters and partners to help drive our charity forward. It’s essential that we bring together a dedicated and diverse team that includes people with different talents and personalities. Further down the line we hope to work with a mix of local groups and people looking to benefit from volunteering within our Wythenshawe workshop.
Emmaus is a place for people of all backgrounds and beliefs and we very much welcome volunteers with a mix of skills, knowledge and life experiences. Getting our social enterprise off the ground is the first piece of the Emmaus jigsaw. If you share our ethos and want to see an Emmaus community succeed in South Manchester, then I encourage you to view our current volunteer roles and get in touch.