Emmaus Preston

Well I’ve been here just about a fortnight now and Preston community has definitely made an impression on me.

I’ve been made welcome, I’ve been the brunt of jokes and I’ve been well fed. I’ve been put on the wash up and cleaning rotas.

I think one of the advantages of a smaller community is that the peer support is tighter, eg. everybody knows who everybody is, in a larger community I think you can sometimes get caught up in the small cog/large machine situation where as with less companions it seems as a more evenly spaced work ethic (less space for the shirkers to shurk). The disadvantages as I see them are that there are maybe fewer, and I hesitate to use the word, cliques or peer groups. So I would imagine that someone, new to Emmaus Preston, who isn’t of an outgoing nature may suffer for a little bit until they find their feet.

I know comparisons are odious but at Emmaus Brighton we seem sometimes to have an influx of people whereas here it seems there is sometimes an influx of jobs.

I’ve learnt about myself too as I have had the opportunity to sort of step back and observe the community as opposed to being really involved in the running of the community. I’ve realized how much I take for granted. As the norm in one community could be unrealistic in another.

All in all my stay has been thoroughly enjoyable and an uplifting experience and my thanks go to Eddie, Franky, Paul, Tom, Ian, Graham, Terry, Simon and Vinnie, landlord at The Derby Inn.