Homeless charity opens painting and decorating hub

A homelessness charity has opened a new decorating hub for people moving into their own homes to make renovations "more accessible and affordable".

Emmaus in Colchester said it was responding to a "particular need" locally and launched the hub to provide discounted eco-friendly paints, rentable equipment and a training room to teach decorating skills.

Brian Cook, the charity's chief executive, said new homes were often "an empty shell and that can be quite overwhelming, especially after a period of homelessness".

"Our idea was to see if we could take away some of the pain of that process and make it as cheap as possible," he said of the paint, which will be sold for £10 to £15 per tin.

The hub sells recycled paint made through Dulux's "recolour" scheme, as well as unopened or full tins of paint donated by companies, but it will not be taking donations of tins from the public.

Colchester City Council supported the project, which was designed with the city in mind and is aimed at many low-income renters and tenants moving from temporary accommodation.

It will be run by Chris Mengell, a former printer ink salesman, who became homeless in summer 2024 and was helped by Emmaus and another charity, Beacon House.

"I have now secured a full-time role here, which is me back on my feet thanks to them. Full turnaround - I can't thank them enough," he said.

He said the training room would provide people with the opportunity to learn the necessary skills to do their own decorating.

"If you've been rehoused after being street homeless, why can't you have a nice place and be proud of it?" he asked.

"It's expensive, it's almost impossible, but you can get grants from the council once you've been rehoused to get paint. And we will be hiring out equipment for people to get started too."

Mr Mengell, 42, said the charity also wanted to help members of the public who wanted to reduce their carbon footprint by using recycled paint.

"We can't see it being a bad idea. People want to paint their homes — it's very expensive to do that and we're going to be the solution, I hope."

The hub will also act as a centre point for community painting projects.

"If there's a scout hut that needs painting, they can come to us and we'll provide the paint and a group of volunteers to get it done," Mr Cook said.

"What we've got on offer is incredible. I'm really proud of what the team has done in getting here."

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.