'I looked up at the Manchester hotels I normally would sleep in... it was humbling'

A grassroots mental health and homelessness charity is holding an annual ‘sleep out’ fundraiser in the city centre this weekend — when temperatures are set to be sub-zero.

Mandem Meetup is a charity specialising in providing men with activities and events to help with their mental health. It also supports rough sleepers on Manchester’s streets.

On Saturday (December 2), it will host its annual ‘sleep-out’ event, where volunteers will spend 24 hours on the streets. It’s forecast to be -2C that day, with highs of just 2C.

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The charity hopes to raise £10,000 in order to fund its activities, all of which are free of charge, like hiking, talking circles, rock climbing, photography, and football. Some of the money will also be donated helping homeless people, it said.

That will involve buying items like sleeping bags, toiletries, underwear. Mandem Meetup is ‘currently considering buying mobile chip and pin readers so anyone on the streets can have monies paid to them even in an ever-growing cashless society’.

As well as raising money, the sleepout is an ‘eye opening and humbling experience’, said its Treasurer Garry Buick. He added: “Last year I joined my friends from Mandem in sleeping on the streets of Manchester to bring awareness to this cause.

“What I particularly remember is sleeping on the streets in sub zero temperatures and looking up at the Manchester skyline and seeing the hotels I would normally be sleeping in.

“Nothing opens your eyes or your mind like walking a mile in someone else’s shoes and I am so pleased that many of my friends