Homeless man speaks out after Greater Manchester borough declares crisis and turns ex-school into emergency shelter

A man in Salford has shared his experience of being homeless after the city declared the problem a "crisis" - with growing numbers of people struggling to find somewhere to stay.

The rise in demand for temporary shelter led the council to set up a 'welfare hub' before Christmas, putting down blow-up mattresses and sun loungers in an empty school building to prevent people sleeping on the streets.

James, a 47-year-old from the city who has been "on and off" homeless for years, has been staying at the hub for the past four nights and said the number of beds has "doubled" since he arrived.

READ MORE: Homelessness crisis declared in Greater Manchester borough as former school turned into emergency accommodation

"It's an overnight shelter for rough sleepers. It's one step up from sleeping in doorways, that's basically it", he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

"It's okay here, it's somewhere to sleep, warm, and safe, the staff are friendly, it's comfortable. But it's quite lacking in facilities, there's no washing facilities, no shower, there's a kitchen area where the staff make us cups of teas, but that's as basic as it gets.

"They've doubled the amount of beds they put in here in the last three or four days, I don't know if they're all taken but there's certainly twice the amount here than when I came. Until you've experienced being homeless in winter it's very difficult to explain it."

James' path to homelessness came through drinking too much and falling out with friends and family. It's something he's battled with for years, but this time he said he knows it's going to be difficult to get out of.

James shared how two weeks ago, during a storm, he was on a park bench and the conditions got so bad that