A property developer has described selling all his houses to build a shelter for rough sleepers. James Worthington, 47, bought a former carpet shop on Seedley Road in 2019 and was originally planning to develop the site into nine self-contained flats to sell on for profit.
But after the pandemic hit and planning permission was halted, James, who overcame homelessness before building up his company, offered the empty building, which was already equipped with showers, lighting and heating, to JVA CIC, an outreach group supporting veterans living on the streets.
He says he then decided to sell his house, refinance the Seedley Road site and transform it into a specialist homeless facility that would help get people off the streets for good.
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James says he is motivated by the memory of his own struggles. As a teenager suffering with undiagnosed ADHD, he regularly ran away from home and was sleeping on friends' sofas and in garden sheds, he says. He also struggled in his 20s, ending up homeless again and suffering with alcohol issues, following a relationship break-up.
"I rough slept a lot as a teenager. As a 14-year-old boy I slept in my friends' shed for nights and anywhere I could. I did this for a few hard weeks until my friend's dad realised my predicament and kindly let me stay with them until I had my first child and became a dad.
"I didn’t know it back then, but I have since been diagnosed with severe ADHD. In those times it wasn’t heard of and wasn’t understood. The symptoms of being overwhelmed, impulsivity and emotional dysregulation caused me to behave disruptively, with frequent outbursts of anger, and impulsive behaviour that made me difficult to handle and discipline.
"I had another bout of homelessness in my 20s. I had a young child and me and my ex were arguing a lot. I was on a downhill spiral and started drinking, then lost my job and before I knew it I hit rock bottom - but it's lucky I had the support of my friends around me who let me stay with them or I would have ended up on the streets.
"It was the worst time in my life and the lowest point I had ever been at. You feel like the world is against you and anything you try doesn't work. I was drowning my sorrows thinking it'll go away but before you know it, you can't see your children, there is no stability and nowhere to sleep at night."
Knowing he wanted to make a change, James joined a course to learn how to renovate property. He got work and gradually rebuilt his life to the point where he had his own home in Worsley.
Approaching the age of 40, James further transformed his fortunes when he decided to remortgage his home to fund buying rental properties to let out.
"I started flipping and renovating houses, selling them and renting them out," he said. "The timing was perfect because the houses were worth double years later when I sold them on.
"It was lucrative, but I have invested all my money into this and sold everything I had, but this project will change people's lives."
James says he withdrew his bid to secure planning permission for eight flats for the rental market on the site of the old carpet shop, before securing, in 2021, the go ahead to create eight new self-contained apartments, along with staff facilities, for a homeless shelter.
He says he decided to sell his home, which was then worth around £400k, and all his other properties, before moving into a smaller rental in Astley and refinancing the Seedley Road site to release funds for the homelessness project, pumping almost half a million into it to date.
"I purchased 19 Seedley Road, the old Regent Carpet Shop, which would have been my biggest renovation project to date. My original plan was to refinance the building and build nine apartments but getting planning was going to take a lot of time. So, I approached JVA, a small homeless charity and told them I had a big building with showers toilets, lighting and heating," he said.
"I knew the cold months were coming and I remembered how it felt to be homeless cold and hungry, and felt the need to help. I always had my connections and felt empathy towards the homeless and raised small funds for different charities with different challenges over the years."
During the pandemic, the building had operated as a place for rough sleepers to stay and as a soup kitchen, an experience which, James says, gave him a whole new focus.
"It gave me an overwhelming joy helping the homeless. Helping and giving has always been a deep passion of mine, and it’s one of the few things that motivates me and drives me," James added.
"You can't just throw someone into a hostel for a few nights and think it'll fix everything. We will have volunteers on hand to help support people and get them back on their feet before they spiral.
"Time, especially for a homeless person, is very valuable and I’m so passionate about making this project a success. I decided to refinance the building and get this homeless shelter in Salford for Salford residents and beyond, up and running. But what the project needs now is funds and with building material costs increasing by 40 per cent, the original build costs have increased significantly."
In the last few weeks the former carpet shop has been reduced to rubble, with ground work now starting at the site before workmen lay down the foundations. James says he is now fundraising to help complete the project. Bricks have been donated so far by Marshall’s Masonry and MKM Manchester along with scaffolding from Connelly's.
James has been documenting the project on his Instagram page @worthingtonreal5 and is appealing for support online here.
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