A walking group, including 4 individuals who were once homeless, complete the primary eight miles of their 450-mile trek from St Davids in west Wales to the Emmaus community in Ditchingham, near Bungay, in Norfolk.
The recent pilgrim route Via Beata, or Way of Blessing, runs from St Davids to Lowestoft, through the grounds of the previous convent, now home to Emmaus residents (often called companions), and the headquarters of homelessness charity Emmaus Norfolk and Waveney.
The six-week sponsored walk, which began last week, is to boost money for Emmaus to assist more people out of homelessness. The group are as a consequence of finish at Ditchingham on 10 October, World Homeless Day.
The walkers include Emmaus residents Carlton, Jagger, Peter and Chloe, and Emmaus Norfolk and Waveney chief executive officer Cecile Roberts.
The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, who has written a book about pilgrimage, The Way under Our Feet (Books, 17 July 2020), plans to hitch them at the tip of the walk.
He said: “Emmaus Norfolk and Waveney is a most remarkable community. . . I wish all who’re joining the pilgrimage every blessing. . . a pilgrimage shouldn’t be just a couple of destination, it’s in regards to the stories we encounter and the places we undergo on the way in which. A pilgrimage isn’t finished until we return home and look back and see how God has woven an internet, a cloth of balm around us on the way in which”
To support the pilgrimage visit www.emmaus.org.uk/norfolk-waveney
