Early Days
The first Emmaus Community was opened in Paris in 1949. The founder was Father Henri-Antoine Groues, now better known as the Abbe Pierre, who was a priest, French MP and wartime resistance hero.
Abbe Pierre met a homeless man called Georges who, in his desperation, had tried to commit suicide by throwing himself into the River Seine. Abbe Pierre took Georges back home with him, but did not just offer him a place to sleep. He asked Georges to help him care for the homeless mothers who came seeking help for them and their children, as he was not able to cope with the problem on his own.
Georges indeed helped Abbe Pierre and continued to live with him, becoming the first Emmaus Companion. Georges helpes Abbe Pierre him to build temporary homes for those in need, at first in the priest's own garden, then later wherever land could be bought or scrounged.
As well as being a priest, Abbe Pierre was a member of the French parliament, but in 1951 he resigned from that role to devote himself to fighting homelessness and poverty. By that time Abbe Pierre had built up a Community of 18 men who were still building homes for those who desperately needed them and Abbe Pierre was paying for their upkeep out of his MP's salary.
So now he started touring the smart restaurants of Paris asking for donations. This outraged the Companions, who though that begging compromised their self respect as well as that of Abbe Pierre. They decided to become "rag pickers", going around collecting things that people no longer wanted and selling them on in order to raise the money needed to sustain the Community.
And so was born the concept of Companions running self supporting businesses, with the profits going to those in greater need, and this has been one of the central philosophies behind the Emmaus movement ever since.
This Community was so successful that others were opened, and the movement began to spread all over France and beyond.
Emmaus International
Emmaus was founded in France just after the Second World War but the movement has spread across Europe and around the world.
There are now over 400 self-supporting, self-governing projects in 44 countries, all based upon the original model. Each one offers homeless and unemployed men and women a home, work, companionship and a chance to gain self-respect.
Emmaus UK
Emmaus did not take off in this country until the 1990s. The motivation was the large increase of homeless people on our streets following changes in housing benefit which removed the provision of rent deposits for private accommodation.
In 1992 the first community opened in Cambridge. Communities followed in Coventry, Dover and Mossley and there are now 19 communities in the UK alone.
Emmaus Mossley
A member of the group that founded the first UK project near Cambridge brought the idea to the Manchester area in 1994 after he moved to Oldham. 28 buildings were viewed in Manchester, Oldham and Tameside before Longlands Mill in Mossley was obtained.
Tameside Council granted planning permission in January 1996, the Company and Charity were registered in Spring 1996, and the purchase was completed in August of that year, thanks to a grant from a national charitable trust.
Longlands Mill was built in 1871 as a doubling mill but became a cotton waste mill in 1929. By the time of the purchase it was empty and becoming derelict.
A co-ordinator was appointed in May 1997 and a small shop was opened on Manchester Road, whilst the mill was open on Saturday mornings for the sale of furniture, clothing, bric-a-brac, toys, etc.
Phase one of the conversion of the mill took place in 1998, providing workshops, sales areas and ten en-suite bedrooms. The second phase, which took place in 1999, included a kitchen, dining room, leisure area, eight further bedrooms and an electrical workshop.
Four more en-suite bedrooms have been added in 2006.
A small industrial heritage centre opened in 2001, in a corner of the lower floor, recording the history of the cotton industry in Mossley, in partnership with Mossley Civic Society.
Emmaus Mossley has its own workshops where donated goods are repaired or refurbished. Companions are offered the opportunity to learn a variety of skills.