On the freezing, dark winter nights in Manchester, most people are inside seeking refuge from the weather.
But there’s one group of people that you can find every night in St Ann’s and St Peter’s squares whatever the season.
Two Brews – a mobile homeless outreach charity – has not taken a night off since it started on Christmas Day in 2020.
The volunteer-run charity distributes food, toiletries, sleeping bags and clothes to people who are homeless or living in supported accommodation.
When co-founder Amanda Thompson set up the organisation, she wasn’t aware of how big it would become.
“We started going out with 40 meals a night,” she said. “And then over the past year or two, we’ve started taking 72 meals. And even 72 meals now isn’t becoming enough each night.
“Because even though we say homeless, there’s different forms of homelessness. People in support accommodations come and then there’s families who can’t afford to cook. We just try and make sure that everybody gets one of something.”
The charity stays open every festive season, and this year they partnered with Pret A Manger on Deansgate to provide a warm, inside space for those in need. As well as opening their doors from 12 to 2pm, they also gave out presents on Christmas day that people had donated.
“It was good to see some people sit inside and be able to get warm. One or two were getting a bit of a sleep,” said Thompson.
“It was a reaction of being acknowledged and not being alone, knowing that even though they may not have a family, they’ve got a family in Two Brews, and you’ll be there for them no matter what, no matter what day.”
The charity, named after one of their regular’s requests, sees many familiar faces, with some of the people they help even coming back to volunteer.
“There’s a lot of familiar faces that we know. Some actually come and help us now. One or two of the lads used to be homeless, and now they are helping.
“There are people that just don’t want to go into accommodation or anything like that, because they’ve been let down by the system before.
“So they find it hard to trust people. When we get to know them, it takes a while for us to really get to know them, because they don’t open up straight away. But we get to build that bond with them.”
As well as providing food and clothes, the group’s main goal is creating a safe, non-judgemental community for those who need it.
Thompson added: “Our message is to treat people the way you want to be treated yourself. You shouldn’t look down on somebody unless you’re lifting them up. We’re all only a paycheque away ourselves from being out there.”
Mark has been coming back ever since Two Brews opened.
For Mark, who has been homeless for 25 years, the charity offers essential food and clothing, but also a sense of community and friendship.
“It’s helped us a lot,” he said. “Because they give us clothes and food. We appreciate it.
“It’s good just to get food but I also know half of the people here. It gives us a sense of friendship.
“Whatever these do for us, I appreciate it, because we don’t know where our next meal is going to come from.”
Joe Stead has been a volunteer for more than three years. He started helping out after his friend got involved.
Helping out at the charity has shown him the reality of being homeless:
“It’s definitely opened my eyes to what else goes on in a place like Manchester and to all the adversities. I’m from a town in North Yorkshire and lived a very privileged life.
“You hear a lot about what goes on, but until you’re out on the streets talking to the people that live that life you see it getting worse every day. Government funding only goes so far and there’s not a lot of care for the people that are on the receiving end of it.
“It’s a big issue in Manchester and so it’s definitely something that I wanted to come and get involved in to do my little part as best I can.
“I think the biggest thing is usually just people that are welcoming and people that are happy to help them. Friendly faces, regular faces that they see week in, week out, that are willing to help them.
“Life on the street isn’t fantastic, you face a lot of adversity and a lot of the worse side of humanity. And then when the weather is like this, the help that we’re able to give people – hot meals, hot drinks, stuff to get through the night – that’s the main part of what we do.”
Stead added that even more people have needed their help following the early release of many prisoners early this winter.
“The big thing was when they opened up a lot of the spaces in prisons and they ended a lot of sentences earlier. There wasn’t a lot of support for people after they just sort of kicked them out onto the streets.
“So we’d see people turning up with their clear bags and their papers from the police going with their bus tickets to town and that was about it. Some people that we’ve been seeing from summer are still facing the same problems that they had back then.”
Two Brews has no plans of stopping, and wants to continue helping as many people as possible in the future, with hopes of growing its online community of people offering donations and support.
“The number of people that need help isn’t going anywhere. So there’s certainly no plans for us to go anywhere,” Stead said.
Thompson added: “Our main focus is making sure everybody that we see gets something to help them and know that someone’s there for them.
“So as long as we can keep doing that, because I don’t think we’re going to eradicate homelessness anytime soon, all we can do is be there for them.”
Two Brews’ website can be found at https://twobrews.org/
Featured Image: Two Brews van taken by Charlotte Fisher
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