A government grant pays to replace around 42 skylights above the Emmaus Works warehouse and shop in Osborne Street. The work is due to end in March 2027.

The homelessness charity Emmaus Colchester has been given £85,000 to repair the roof over its warehouse and shop in Osborne Street, and says the work starts immediately. The money comes from the government’s Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund. The charity says the roof has been deteriorating for the last eight years.

Emmaus told us about the grant on Tuesday and sent photographs of the two buildings. The work covers:

  • around 42 skylights, to be replaced
  • roughly 120 sq m of repairs across the warehouse and shop
  • a new low-energy heating system throughout the warehouse

The charity’s aim, in its own words, is to make the roof “stable and watertight, preventing further deterioration”. A completion date of March 2027 is planned.

The Osborne Street roof, in numbers What Emmaus Colchester says the grant pays for £85,000 grant awarded 42 skylights replaced 120 sq m of repair work 8 years of deterioration Work starts: immediately, the charity says Planned completion: March 2027 Funder: Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, MHCLG Source: Emmaus Colchester, 8 September 2026. Figures are the charity's own. Graphic by The Colchester Post

What the buildings are used for

Osborne Street is where most of Emmaus Colchester’s trading happens. The site holds the warehouse where donations are sorted and stored, a Decorating Hub, an upcycling workshop and the Emmaus Works shop.

Darren Scott, business operations manager at Emmaus Colchester, said:

“We’re delighted to have been awarded this EHCF grant to upgrade our roof and heating system.

“The Osborne Street premises are home to our various social enterprise activities, including the warehouse where we sort and store all our donations, our innovative Decorating Hub, upcycling workshop and Emmaus Works retail shop.

“This space allows us to support people who have experienced homelessness by giving them the skills and practical work experience they need to begin rebuilding their lives.”

The charity says the warehouse takes in tonnes of donations a year, and that the new heating should cut energy use, carbon emissions and running costs as well as warming the building for staff, volunteers and companions. Companions is the word Emmaus uses for the people it supports.

The Emmaus Works shopfront in Osborne Street, Colchester, with window lettering reading Free Donation Collections and Painting and Decorating Service
The Emmaus Works shop in Osborne Street, in a photograph supplied by the charity. Photo: supplied by Emmaus Colchester

Where the money came from

The Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund is run by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The department published its allocations for the 2026 to 2029 round on 19 August, and says £41m of revenue funding and £6m of capital funding has gone to preferred bidders, subject to grant agreements being completed. Emmaus Colchester is not named in that publication, so the £85,000 figure is the charity’s own.

It is the second sizeable grant we have reported in Colchester in a week. Holy Trinity Church on Trinity Street won £2.65m towards reopening the building in 2028, and in August the council agreed its voluntary and welfare grants for the year.

One point the release does not settle

The announcement describes both premises as being in Osborne Street, but says the 120 sq m of repairs covers “the warehouse and high street shop”. Emmaus Colchester also runs a separate shop, Emmaus Home, at 99 High Street. The release does not say whether that building is part of the work, and we have not treated it as included.

What it means for you

The Emmaus Works shop at 8-13 Osborne Street, CO2 7DT, is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, according to the charity’s own shops page. Nothing in the announcement says the shop or the warehouse will close while the roof is being worked on, and we would not assume it stays open throughout a project of this length. Check before making a special trip, particularly if you are dropping off a large donation.

If you are driving in for that, the city centre car parks nearest Osborne Street are the ones to look at.

The charity collects donated furniture and delivers what it sells. It says there are 28 Emmaus communities in the UK, supporting more than 850 companions between them.

Sources