Last week we celebrated 5 years of the RENU Furniture Upcycling and Employability project, it's been a hugely successful project that we couldn’t be prouder of. The results of RENU speak for themselves with over 50 lives touched and positively changed by completing the RENU course and 15 people moved on into some form of employment or training. RENU was developed to help individuals who lacked confidence, skills, stability and hope. It did this through providing them with a safe calm environment allowing them to get creative, learn, develop and move on to bright new futures.

The celebration was a chance for us to bring together our students, customers, volunteers, sponsors and supporters to say thank you for everything they have done for the RENU project. It was a great success and very special to have so many people together in one room who believed in the good that RENU has accomplished.

However this event was bittersweet as the celebration did also mark the end of the project as a Barnabus run initiative. Our friends Emmaus Bolton are taking over the project and it will re-emerge in July in Wythenshawe. We are sad to see RENU leave Barnabus, but we are very happy that it will continue in safe hands and remain in South Manchester providing a haven for those that need it. It seems fitting that this week we had the brilliant news that one of our RENU students has just secured a job and we are sure we will be excited to hear about new success stories to come from RENU once it reopens.

Barnabus Manchester are developing new initiatives as we respond to the changing landscape of homelessness and focus our energies on the city centre where we serve those who need the most help and support to rebuild their lives and move off the streets into new lives. We hope you will come with us on this exciting journey.

Finally we would like to say a massive thank you to all our sponsors, supporters, volunteers, customers and friends without you none of this would have been possible.