Stewarts will be supporting Emmaus UK as their Charity of the Year for 2017.
Emmaus supports formerly homeless people by giving them a home, meaningful work in a social enterprise and an opportunity to regain lost self-esteem to help rebuild their lives.
Staff and partners of Stewarts were asked for the first time, to nominate a charity to receive financial support from the firm throughout 2017. A shortlist was drawn up and Emmaus was the overall winner.
As Charity of the Year, Emmaus will receive a grant from The Stewarts Foundation, in addition to fundraising support from staff throughout the year for various sporting and fundraising events.
Emmaus is using the donation received from The Stewarts Foundation to open a new community in the North East of England. Ben Townsend, partner in the Leeds office was invited to attend the opening of this centre. Click here to read a full report about the new centre.
There are currently 28 Emmaus communities across the country, supporting more than 750 companions (formerly homeless people) in the UK. The communities offer a home for as long as someone needs it.
John Cahill, Managing Partner of Stewarts said:
“Although the firm has a long history of charitable giving, this is the first time that staff have voted overwhelmingly for a charity with which we can focus our support for the year.
Representatives from Emmaus came to visit the London office in December and were able to explain directly to staff exactly what support they provide and how the firm’s involvement will help them to grow these services.
I am looking forward to working with Emmaus to help them achieve their goal of offering a further 250 companion places by 2020.”
Russell Anthony, Corporate Partnerships Manager for Emmaus UK said:
“We are very grateful to Stewarts for this amazing support. It’s an exciting time for Emmaus as we celebrate our 25th anniversary in the UK.
Funding such as this means that we can plan for the future, building towards our goal of providing 1,000 companion places by 2020 and continuing to help more and more people rebuild their lives.”
Please visit Emmaus’s website for further information – www.emmaus.org.uk
Emmaus supports formerly homeless people by giving them a home, meaningful work in a social enterprise and an opportunity to regain lost self-esteem to help rebuild their lives.
Social enterprise is central to the Emmaus model as it provides meaningful work for companions but also generates funding to maintain communities. Companions living in Emmaus communities are expected to sign off all benefits, with the exception of housing benefit, which is used to help to support the community. The rest of the funding that is needed is generated through social enterprise and fundraising.
Emmaus communities deliver a significant return on investment. Research shows that for every £1 invested in a community, there is an £11 return, with savings to the benefits bill, health services and a reduction in crime reoffending.
