A new centre to provide accommodation and work for homeless people has been announced at an event held at the Eden Project.

Eden is working on the plan alongside global charity Emmaus, with the support of fellow homelessness charity St Petrocs.

Emmaus has 29 communities in the UK, where it provides a home, work and training for homeless people, known as companions, as they develop the skills and confidence to rebuild their lives. Such a community at Eden would be a first for Cornwall.

Eden has a long history of working with homelessness charities, including St Petrocs, which campaigns to end street homelessness in Cornwall.

The project was announced at a fund-raising dinner featuring four speakers - Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project; Terry Waite CBE, President of Emmaus UK; Steve Ellis, Chief Executive of St Petroccand Raynor Winn, author of the best-selling memoir, ’The Salt Path’. They were introduced by Richard Williams, a trustee of Emmaus Cornwall and a member of the joint Eden/Emmaus working group.

The group has started to look at options to provide accommodation and work for homeless people on land owned by Eden, just outside of the main visitor attraction near St Austell. It is hoped that there might be a community in place by the end of 2020.