Former hostage Terry Waite is coming to Bradford to help raise more funds to turn a major empty church into a community shelter for homeless people.
He will be at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in East Parade on Thursday, April 18, to increase support for the Emmaus UK charity project.
Visitors to the iconic building will be able to find out about restoration plans for the church and what needs to happen and what has already done to prepare work on the project.
Mr Waite, who is Emmaus UK's patron, last visited Bradford to talk about the project in 2011 at a fundraising dinner where he helped make £4,000 towards it and revealed how his time as a hostage in Beirut had taught him to relate to the anxieties of being homeless.
The charity Emmaus UK already has more than 21 commune-style hostels around Britain with others, including the Bradford community, in the pipeline.
The 135-year-old St Mary's Church was given to the non-religious charity by Leeds Roman Catholic Diocese but was estimated to need about £2.3m to develop it.
Mr Waite had described it during his previous visit to the city as “a bold project” requiring “lots of work and the support of lots of people”.
It was the former Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie who first encouraged Mr Waite to get behind Emmaus and take up its cause.
Emmaus ‘companions’ come from all walks of life have and have included a GP and a sergeant major and its communities are not places for easy handouts, says the organisation.
Companions are required to to stay away from drink and drugs and have to work within the organisation to be self-sufficient and help “pay” for the roof over their head and for their keep.
They have to sign off benefits and work renovating and re-selling furniture to support the community.
The Emmaus project had needed £55,000 initially to get a project director and set up costs at the church building before it could begin to give 20 to 27 people a bed.
The event at the church on April 18 starts at 5.30pm.