Police Training House Furniture Will Aid Homeless In Local Communities
Written by Shaun Moore on June 22, 2010
Gloucestershire Constabulary will be using furniture bought from homeless charity Emmaus to refurnish their training house in Carne Place in Gloucester. 
The police will be using £300 from their training budget to buy the items from the Gloucester branch of the charity, which enables people to move on from homelessness.
Chief Inspector Emma Davies, head of training with Gloucestershire Police said: “We are buying this much-needed furniture from an allocated budget set aside for our training courses and equipment. Instead of buying new goods from retail stores we felt it would be more cost efficient and more beneficial to the local community to buy from Emmaus.
“The training house, which we rent from the TA Centre in Gloucester, is used for a variety of purposes, from initial student officer training all the way through to supervision training and crime scene management training. The furniture bought from Emmaus will add reality to the training and help trainees develop key skills.
“Ultimately it will enable our student officers to provide a service that will inspire trust and confidence.”
Gloucestershire Police has set aside up to £300 to spend on furniture at Emmaus and all the proceeds go straight to the funding of the charity. The items that will be bought with the budget are furniture for a bedroom, living room and kitchen area.
Emmaus Gloucestershire receives donations of items such as furniture and electrical goods, so all food, clothing and accommodation the provide to the homeless are paid for by selling the donations. Any additional money Emmaus Gloucestershire makes gets donated to a charity of their choice.
Neil Booker, Business Manager at Emmaus Gloucester said: “I have been in contact with Inspector Andy Johnson and PC Steve Wren before as they have discussed the possibilities of joint working for the community previously. They have also donated items to the branch in Chequers Road. I was over the moon when they approached me with this information and am really excited to see the finished version of the training house.
“Emmaus Gloucestershire pays its way through the sale of donated goods in our shops. Once the needs of the charity have been met we donate excess funds to other charities. At the moment we are keen to help with the creation of a new Emmaus in Bridgend so we hope that the support of Gloucestershire Police will help us to help them to achieve this. “
