The project will be the biggest DIY SOS big build ever filmed and is being delivered just ahead of Armed Forces Day on Saturday.
Orchestrated by charities Walking With The Wounded, Haig Housing and Manchester City Council, the BBC1 DIY SOS Veterans Special project will be delivered by a team headed up by big name contractors including Kier and ISG.
In just 12 days, this ambitious project will renovate eight dilapidated homes on Canada Street in Newton Heath, Manchester.
These will create four adapted homes for veterans and their families, as well as a Walking With The Wounded advice and therapy centre.
The challenging project will deliver a ‘facelift’ to all 62 properties on Canada Street and the adjacent New Street, as well as ‘streetscaping’ to provide an improved, more resident-friendly neighbourhood.
Kier volunteered to project manage and lead the delivery of the scheme, as it replicates the highly successful regeneration project that the company delivered in partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council for its award-winning £1 homes initiative, which was part of a £3m plan to regenerate the Cobridge neighbourhood in the city.
ISG have also provided instrumental support, and the companies will work together with many other smaller contractors, suppliers, volunteers and representatives from the Armed Forces, as well as the famous faces of the DIY SOS team.
Ed Parker, chief executive at Walking With The Wounded, said: “Manchester City Council is providing a remarkable opportunity to our veterans. One of our core philosophies at Walking With The Wounded is for our veterans to gain their independence outside the military, and two of the key factors for this to succeed is a home and a job. This project will provide both.”
The two-part programme will be aired in the autumn.