ONE of TVs Secret Millionaires - who helped community projects in Salford - has been snubbed by the city's business bosses.

Invitations were sent out to 400 companies to attend a fundraising event at Loaves and Fishes, a homeless and day care centre in Pendleton.

Chek Whyte, who has a construction empire, donated £20,000 to the centre after going undercover as a labourer for the Channel 4 programme last year. He travelled more than 100 miles from his home in Nottingham to deliver a speech at the centre - but no one turned up.

Chek, 43, said: "The purpose was to raise cash and awareness. I was in the middle of finalising a business deal - taking over a £50m business - but I put the centre first and drove to Salford.

"I did the deal on the phone from Salford because I did not want to let down Loaves and Fishes. The only people who turned up were the Rotary Club, plus the people who use the centre.

"Apparently, 400 invites went out to businesses, but they ignored them.

"I was very disappointed with the response."

Chek's cash has been used to install a new kitchen and a garden at the centre.

"Maybe the firms didn't turn up because they thought it was for down-and-outs," he said.

"It is far more than that. It provides food for those who have lost their way a bit, but it is also somewhere for lonely members of the community to watch TV and see their mates

"It does a great job and needs support. It is run by a couple of ladies and 100 members a day use it."

In a heart-rending scene in the TV programme, the centre made Chek reflect on his own childhood and how a place like it could have been a help to his mum when life was getting on top of her.

Since his show was screened, Chek has made a huge effort to return the hospitality he received from local people in Langworthy and Seedley when he moved into Nansen Street as 'Anthony'.

He made a hefty donation to Salford Lads Club, sponsored Ordsall FC football team and paid for the renovation of a young asthma sufferer's home.

He has also bought two tower blocks in Salford, renovating them at a cost of £3.25m so they can be sold as affordable housing, and is turning the former Brass Handles pub into a mum-and-baby facility.

His company is finishing the construction of a Langworthy church on a not-for-profit basis.

After a tough childhood, expulsion from school, and bankruptcy three times, Chek built his construction company and now owns two stately homes standing in more than 500 acres.

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