- .On two-day trip on behalf of Emmaus UK, a charity she is patron of
- .Charity supports former homeless people by giving them a home and work
- .Camilla accompanied by three men and women known as ‘companions’
- .She lived and studied in Paris, age 16
- .Admits her French is 'rusty' as she prepares to give speech
The Duches of Cornwall undertook her first working visit abroad alone today.
Boarding the 10.25am Eurostar service at London’s St Pancras Station, Camilla joked: ‘Yes, it’s my first solo and could be my last. I’m dreading making my speech in French, I haven’t had to speak it since I was 16.’
Prince Charles’s wife is on a two-day trip to the French capital on behalf of one of the charities of which she is patron, Emmaus UK, which has its roots in France.
Flying solo: The Duchess of Cornwall prepares to board the eurostar at St Pancras International Station to start her official solo international engagement in Paris
The charity supports former homeless people by giving them a home within an ‘Emmaus Community’, as well as offering them work in one of its social enterprises.
Camilla is being accompanied by three men and women being helped by the charity – who are known as ‘companions’ – as she learns about its work.
Aides said that the Duchess had been keen to learn to learn more about the charity’s work for some time, as it was one of the first patronages she took on after her marriage to the Prince of Wales in 2005.
‘Although the Duchess is understandably somewhat nervous about undertaking a foreign visit without her husband, she is particularly excited that she is working out there on behalf of a charity she is so passionate about,’ said one.
It is not the first time that Camilla has visited Paris, however. She lived and studied in the city for six months when she was 16 – some fifty years ago.
She also made a brief official visit with her husband in November 2008.
Full steam ahead: Camilla boards the Eurostar and will be travelling to the Fench capital primarily on behalf of her charity Emmaus UK, which has its roots in France and of which she has been patron since 2006
The Duchess, dressed in a pale mustard Anna Valentine jacket and patterned summer dress, travelled with a six-strong entourage – which included her hairdresser and dresser - plus her security staff.
However the trip will not be costing taxpayers as her husband is funding it privately.
To the astonishment of fellow Bank Holiday travellers she boarded a business class carriage with minimum fuss, taking a seat alongside the Companions from Emmaus to chat about their stories.
She quickly put them at ease, asking them about their command of French.
‘I haven’t spoken French since I was 16 and I wouldn’t even say it was basic. But they have somehow persuaded me to give a speech in French. It has taken years off my life, I can tell you,’ she said.
Honorary traveller: To the astonishment of fellow Bank Holiday travellers she boarded a business class carriage with minimum fuss, taking a seat alongside the Companions from Emmaus to chat about their stories
Entourage: The Duchess, dressed in a beige Anna Valentine jacket and patterned summer dress, travelled with a six-strong entourage ¿ which included her hairdresser and dresser - plus her security staff
‘I haven’t spoken it since I was 16 – that’s almost half a century ago. If it all goes wrong then I will need to clap loudly and disguise it. I will give you all signs to hold up too.’
The Duchess is using her visit to learn more about the origins of Emmaus, which was founded in France shortly after the Second World War when homelessness and poverty was an issue, particularly in large urban areas.
The first Emmaus Community was founded in Paris in 1949 by Father Henri-Antoine Groues, better known as Abbé Pierre, a Catholic priest, MP and former member of the French Resistance during the Second World War.
As an MP, he fought to provide homes for those who lived on the streets of Paris.
One night, a man called Georges was brought to Abbé Pierre after a failed suicide attempt. Georges had been released after 20 years in prison, only to find his family was unable to cope with his return home so became homeless.
Learning opportunity: The Duchess is using her visit to learn more about the origins of Emmaus, which was founded in France shortly after the Second World War when homelessness and poverty was an issue, particularly in large urban areas
Abbé Pierre asked Georges to help him to help the homeless mothers who came looking for support from him.
Georges became the first Emmaus Companion, living with Abbé Pierre and helping him to build temporary homes for those in need, first in the priest's own garden, then wherever land could be bought or scrounged.
He later said: ‘Whatever else he might have given me - money, home, somewhere to work - I'd have still tried to kill myself again. What I was missing, and what he offered, was something to live for.’
In 1951, Abbé Pierre resigned as an MP to devote himself to fighting homelessness and poverty. Until then he had used his salary to pay Georges and the other 18 men who had joined them to set up the first ever Emmaus Community, so instead he toured the smart restaurants of Paris asking for donations.
When the Companions found out about this they were outraged, feeling that begging would compromise their self-respect, so to raise money they became "rag pickers", collecting things that people no longer wanted and selling them on. This was the start of the first Emmaus social enterprise.
Abbé Pierre continued to campaign until his death in January 2007 aged 94 and his movement now has 300 groups based in 36 countries all over the world.
The first Emmaus UK Community was founded in 1992 in Cambridge with a further 23 opening since, now offers 580 formerly homeless people a place to live and work.
Despite being one of the most recent countries to join the Emmaus Movement, rapid growth in the UK means it is second only to France in size and scale.
Emmaus supports formerly homeless people by giving them a home, meaningful work in a social enterprise and an opportunity to get themselves back on their feet again.
For many people who experience homelessness, one of the biggest obstacles they must overcome is a loss of self-esteem and feeling of worthlessness, the charity says.
Companions: Travelling to Paris on the Eurostar with the Duchess of Cornwall are Mary Rigg from Hastings, Rob Daines from Coventry, and Scott Alvey, all who moved to Emmaus after finding themselves homeless
Surprise traveller: Aides said that the Duchess had been keen to learn to learn more about the charity's work for some time, as it was one of the first patronages she took on after her marriage to the Prince of Wales in 2005
Emmaus gives them the opportunity to regain this by giving them a purpose – a reason to get out of bed in the morning and a chance to make a real contribution to their Community.
There are a range of different Emmaus social enterprises, although most focus on recycled furniture and household goods. There are also Emmaus cafes, gardening projects and clothing shops.
Many Emmaus communities also “upcycle” old furniture - repainting and reupholstering it to give it a new lease of life.
Companions living in Emmaus Communities are expected to sign off all benefits, with the exception of housing benefit, which is used to help to support the Community.
Camilla also intends to make the most of her time in Paris, attending a reception thrown by the British ambassador, Sir Peter Ricketts, to celebrate British people who have made their mark in France.
The reception will also include students and teachers from the former Institut Britannique, where the Duchess studied all those years ago.
She will also pop into a traditional Parisienne market, visit one of the city’s famous couture houses and even find time to view the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.
Train chats: Camilla learned how Emmaus gives them the opportunity to regain this by giving them a purpose ¿ a reason to get out of bed in the morning and a chance to make a real contribution to their Community
Student life: Camilla studied in Paris when she was just 16 years old, but admits her French is 'rusty'
EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO HAVE TURNED LIVES AROUND THROUGH EMMAUS
Rob Daines
Taking on a pressurised new role at work – dealing with suicide victims at a busy London train station – left Rob Staines an alcoholic and, eventually, sleeping rough on the streets.
Taking on a pressurised new role at work – dealing with suicide victims at a busy London train station – left Rob Staines an alcoholic and, eventually, sleeping rough on the streets.
Now aged 37, Rob admits his life has been ‘a bit of a roller coaster’ but credits Emmaus for helping him regain a sense of pride and determination to turn his situation around.
The Suffolk-born former station guard was one of five sons and admits he was never close to his family, who moved away when he was just 17.
Not particularly academic, he initially studied performing arts at college and in his twenties managed to secure a string of minor parts in plays and films, once acting with Edward Woodward.
After marrying and having two children Rob decided it was time to get a ‘proper’ job, working in bakery and as a car salesman before his marriage eventually broke down.
He went back to gigging for a while before taking a new role as a station guard at busy East Croydon train station.
A diligent worker, he was put forward for training in suicide prevention and made responsible for dealing with any incident involving a member of public threatening to jump or if there was a body on the line.
‘It was a pretty intense job and although I didn’t feel particularly stressed, I now see how much it was getting to me,’ he says.
‘I started going out every night, drinking to try and get over the stress of my days at work. It didn’t seem out of hand to me at the time, particularly as I was going out with friend having dinner or enjoying a few pints down the pub.
‘The trouble is that one or two pints became four, five or six. Then I started drinking on my own at home. I didn’t realise how excessive my alcohol consumption had become until I failed a breath test at work. My employers had no choice but to dismiss me immediately and that led me to losing my home.’
Rob says he ‘sofa-surfed’ for a while before being forced to sleep rough on the streets, occasionally staying in a homeless shelter at night.
It was there that he first heard about Emmaus, although he initially dismissed it as an option as he thought it was a wholly religious organisation.
Eventually, fed up at the misery his life had become and determined to seize the chance of a better life, he checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic and, six months later, joined an Emmaus Community.
Now based in Coventry, where he is working as a deputy community leader, he says: ‘I feel a real sense of pride that I am doing something worthwhile. What is so remarkable about the organisation is that it doesn’t judge, there is no prejudice. You are all offered the same chance to make something of your life.’
Scott Alvey
Privately-educated Scott Alvey, who grew up in a loving home near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, admits he was given ‘every chance in life – and wasted them’.
‘I had every opportunity to make something of myself when I was growing up,’ he says. ‘I went to private school, my parents offered to pay for driving lessons, I was supported when I decided to leave school at 16, but somehow I kept making wrong turns. My brother was offered the same chances and took them, but I decided I knew better.’
His father was a carpenter, not a wealthy man but one who regularly worked 14-hour days – including weekends – to give his two sons the education and opportunities in life that he never had. But he was also strict, and he and Scott often clashed.
At the age of 16, Scott embarked on a course to learn how to work with the elderly but quit and undertook a string of jobs, earning money when and where he could.
Then he met and moved in with a girlfriend who, unbeknown to him at the time, was using hard drugs.
‘I was pretty naive and would come home from work and give her all my wages, only to discover the rent and bills hadn’t been paid and there was no food in the fridge,’ he recalls.
‘Before long she owned up to what was going on and, stupidly, I thought: ‘Well , I’m not going to waste my money on the sensible stuff while she is having fun, I want to try it too’. And that was the beginning of the end, really.
‘Before I knew it I was hooked on heroin and the next ten years of my life were just about stealing to feed my habit - not that I was any good at it. I got caught and sent to prison so many times I lost count. I’d go to jail, I’d get clean, I’d come out, I’d go home, my mum would forgive me, set me up with clothes and food – then I would just throw it in her face. I’d meet with my old friends and slippery slide back to jail would begin again.
‘Sometimes it took less than two months for me to end up back in jail. In the end, my mother disowned me and I don’t blame her at all. If I had a child that did a fraction of what I put her through, I would do exactly the same thing.’
He first heard about Emmaus during one of his last stints in prison, where he was finally able to gain some qualifications.
On leaving he went straight into a rehabilitation clinic, knowing that his mother was desperate for him to ‘get clean’.
‘Of course I messed up,’ he says. ‘Getting off heroin is hard. You have to want it for yourself, it’s not enough to know that you are doing it for someone else. Before long I was back in jail.’
This time, however, a friend talked to him seriously about the opportunities Emmaus could offer and he decided to give it a serious try, moving more than 100 miles away from his home to a community in Cambridge.
‘I knew that if I wanted to make it work then I needed to distance myself completely from my so-called friends and my old life – and have never looked back,’ he said.
‘I don’t miss my old life at all as Emmaus has helped me make new friends, ones who go out and do an honest day’s work and then go home to their family and friends at the end of the day.
‘I can’t say that it has always been plain sailing and I have had my ups and downs – and the odd relapse - but the Community has been great. They don’t judge, they simply hand you the opportunity to make something of your life again.’
An eloquent man who is determined not to blame anyone for the problems in life but himself, Scott, now 36, says: ‘Understandably people tend to think if you have led a bad life then you are a bad person. Emmaus sees through that.
‘My life is so great at the moment – and the best thing about it is that I am slowly rebuilding my relationship with my mother.
‘Understandably for a long time she felt that I had let her down. She gave me so many chances, even after my dad died of Motor Neurone Disease, and I just threw them all back in her face.
‘But we spoke for the first time in over three years at Christmas and it was lovely. I hope I make her proud now. She knows I have been chosen to go to Paris with the Duchess of Cornwall and I think it means a lot to her.
‘Although I eventually want to stand on my own two feet, I want to stay with Emmaus for a while longer to try and pay back what they have given me – a life.
‘If it weren’t for Emmaus, I’d be dead by now. Instead I am earning my own living and I love it. ‘
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