PHARMACY BUSINESS AWARDS 2004

A1 Pharmaceuticals co-founders Gary and Carmen Lewis entertained several of their customers and staff at the Pharmacy Business Awards last night. The evening was attended by over 1000 people including suppliers, manufacturers and retail pharmacy staff.

Several key speakers were at the event including Terry Waite CBE who was promoting the charity Emmaus. Terry Waite is the president of Emmaus UK, he gave an emotional speech explaining how Emmaus has helped thousands of homeless people so far.

Gary and Carmen Lewis with Terry Waite CBE at the Pharmacy Business Awards 2004

Emmaus was started in Paris in 1949 by Father Henri-Antoine Groues, better known as the Abb¨¦ Pierre, a Catholic priest and MP. During the Second World War he had been a member of the French Resistance; after the war had finished he began to fight for the rights of those who found themselves homeless.

Emmaus arrived in the UK in the early 1990s. It was inspired by a comment from a homeless man to a Cambridge business man, Selwyn Image. When Selwyn asked him what he wanted, the man replied: "I want to work and belong. I want my self-respect back. I don't want to queue for hand-outs or have to beg for food. And I don't want people to cross the street to avoid me." At that point, Selwyn remembered his time as a volunteer at the Emmaus Community in Paris while he was a student, 30 years before. He started introducing people to the idea of Emmaus.

Two years later, the first Emmaus Community in Britain opened near Cambridge. In the following year, work started to set up a Community in Coventry, and projects in London, Dover and Manchester followed closely behind. Emmaus Communities continue to be established in the UK, all based on the Abb¨¦ Pierre's founding principles of acceptance, sharing, working for others in greater need, and self-respect.

"Fortunately most of us will never experience what it's like to be homeless: it is frightening and depressing, and can affect people from all walks of life. Emmaus gives people a chance to get back on their feet, to be trusted and regain their self-esteem, and to be recognized as people with a positive future, not dependant on handouts? Terry Waite CBE, President of Emmaus UK

To find out more and to find out how you can help please visit the Emmaus website http://www.emmaus.org.uk