5 August 2016
The introduction of Stakeholder Leave at the Port has been welcomed with great enthusiasm by staff. This week, two members of the team took up the opportunity to go and work for the day at the Southwick branch of Emmaus.
Katie Orchin, Marketing and Communications Executive and Georgia Ellis, Marketing and Communications Assistant spent the day helping out in the Emmaus charity shop. The aim of the day was to organise and restock the shelves to make them more accessible and inviting for customers.
Emmaus is a charity that works at the heart of the community with the aim to end homelessness. The money generated through their charity shop sales is put back into keeping the business afloat as well as supporting the local community.
People living in Emmaus communities have often experienced homelessness and hardship and are known as companions. Emmaus enable these companions to work in the shops, to earn their bed and board whilst simultaneously providing a sense of purpose and structure to their lives.
The charity runs income-generating activities at a local level with people who have experienced social exclusion. The activities mainly centre around collecting and recycling second-hand or discarded items that are due to be thrown away. Most of their income comes from selling these recycled goods.
Katie commented “Emmaus do such an amazing job with the community and supporting companions who have had a tough time in the past through homelessness. I really enjoyed our day helping around the shop. The shop has a lovely café too which is a great place to socialise and relax with friends.”
Georgia commented “We had a great day meeting the team and organising the shelves to help promote more sales by making things easier to find. The shop has so much to offer and I’d definitely like to go back and help again in the future.”
Alexa Kerr, Shop Manager at Emmaus by-the sea commented “It was great having Katie and Georgia volunteering for us this week. Volunteers are so important to us as they provide support and help us with projects we really need doing that we just don't seem to find the time for. The ladies did a fantastic job of organising the shelves and making things look more appealing so a massive thank you to Katie and Georgia from Emmaus By The Sea. We look forward to working closely with the Port in the future and developing a strong relationship.”
