Salford man’s sacrifice pays off as new homeless facility nears completion

A Salford man, who was homeless for a period as a teenager, is steps away from helping to get others off the street.

Since 2019, building developer James Worthington has been transforming an old carpet shop into the ‘Worthington Homeless Facility’. After countless setbacks and mental tolls, the Seedley Road hub is now near completion.

At the age of fourteen, James left home. With nowhere to go he said he was forced to couch surf from one friend’s house to the other, relying on food from friend’s families. Although he only spent a few weeks in this situation, he has described it previously as ‘the worst time of my [his] life.’ 

The building project, which has been underway for six years, has played a big role in James’ life, but there have been pitfalls along the way.

At the beginning of the build, the site was shut down for five months, accessibility errors, leaving the project on hold.

“I wanted to say I’ve had enough,” he said.

“I know It’s affected me mentally in a big way. I sold my own home. I had to sell my van, maxed all my credit cards. I had absolutely nothing left to give.”

James has made hard sacrifices and even sold his own home to help cover the costs of the almost £1m project.

The community has contributed to the facility in several ways, from personalised brick donations to volunteers working for free.

Donations from the Salford community have helped raise funds. People will soon see their names and businesses’ displayed at the front of the house from the ‘buy a brick’ campaign.

James has committed himself entirely to this project.

“To build something like this, or to build anything… I would’ve never believed that I’d be doing anything like this,” he said.

“I always think something bad is going to happen, because I’ve never had this in my life.”

“I believe with the power of God you can do anything and that’s how I’ve got the strength.”

The Worthington Homeless Facility is working in partnership with a Greater Manchester charity, Embassy, which helps homeless people get off the streets by providing a safe space to sleep, along with support to get people back on their feet.

They have provided furnishings for the property, allowing the members to feel comfortable.

The charity will be on site to help the members of the house, with a range of workshops to provide support.

The house will have a sense of security with high surveillance surrounding the property, a ‘family meal’ once a week, communication with the charity for mental well-being check-ups and most importantly- preparing them for their next steps.

The facility is reaching a milestone in homelessness.

James reiterated: “People are going to walk out of here different people.”