As the Beast from the East takes Manchester by storm spare a thought for the homeless tonight as you are cosy and warm.

Temperatures will reach as low as -4 C tonight, and the battle to survive on the streets intensifies.

Simon Locke, community director of Emmaus Salford understands the importance of ensuring the safety of those sleeping rough on the streets.

Locke said: “You’ve got a lot of people who are street homeless, and not enough emergency accommodation to accommodate everybody.

“We’ve had a lot more referrals come through to us obviously with the onslaught of this beast from the east.”

Despite attempts from the the Greater Manchester council, the emergency accommodation is often already full. This leaves many people spending the night on the street.

A 2017 study found that Manchester had seen a 33 percent increase in homelessness, with Salford seeing a 15 percent decrease.

Both Mayor Andy Burnham, and Salford Mayor Paul Dennett have listed homelessness as one of the problems that needs to be tackled first.

Locke commended the job of Burnham and Dennett: “I would say they’re working as hard as they possibly can, but this kind of issue is probably like pushing treacle up a hill.

“You’re not going to get there quickly and you’re not going to solve it over night, and hopefully with each passing winter we are going to have more and more emergency accommodation.

“But the fact that there’s forward momentum, that’s the main thing

On finding emergency accommodation, Mr Locke explained that the public can help those sleeping rough.

Simon Locke said: “Not everyone who’s on the street has access to the internet all the time.

“It might be useful if somebody who sees someone on the street and they’ve got a smart phone to pass on information from street support.

“Not everyone gets recognised as actually being a human being.”

To contact your local council in regards to this, call 0161 234 5339.

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