Charity dishes up ‘Michelin-star treatment’ for Manchester’s homeless

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Mirror visits breakfast morning run by Manchester’s oldest homeless charity to see how volunteers help feed some of society’s most vulnerable.

While most of Manchester still sleeps, behind a doorway in a graffiti-strewn street the day has already started.

It’s about dawn but food is in the oven— volunteers are getting ready to feed some of society’s most vulnerable. They are those who have endured a night outside in the cold or don’t have a permanent roof over their head to call home.

Different factors lie at the heart of why; everyone has their own story. Yet here, at Manchester ’s oldest homeless charity, Lifeshare, people come for the same reason — to find sanctuary. About 80 people filed in for breakfast when we visited on a Friday morning last month but often the number tops 100. Attendees are hungry for food but also company. Breaking bread with people facing similar circumstances can be as important as filling empty bellies.

Other support is on offer too — showers and clothing. Manchester City, one of the richest football clubs on earth, is among those donating garments. One of the most valuable gifts people give the charity – also supported by actress Maxine Peake – is their time. Over a dozen volunteers help serve breakfast during the two-hour session, some for the first time – others seasoned regulars.

A shipping container makes for an unlikely spot to escape the bitter winter cold, but for Justin Hayes it is home. Inside, the 49-year-old and his puppy Rebel share a tent. They might not have much — yet they have each other. The pair have been among those at “Palestinian resistance camp” in a derelict car park in the city, Justin says. The softly-spoken Mancunian supports the cause but admits he’s also there for a safe place to stay.

He describes himself as “work ready” – his trade is security – but highlights the problem: “It’s just the lack of roof over my head at the minute…” Though he has struggled with his mental health (borderline personality disorder, anxiety and depression), he does not consider himself as vulnerable as others on the streets.

But the terror he has encountered being homeless is no less. “You’re always scared,” he explains. “A lot of people will front up as a way of defence. I’m fortunate because of my background, I’m confident to look after myself but there is this element of people feeling like they need to do stuff like big themselves up because they carry knives or they’ve done this in prison or that in prison. And it’s basically alpha male b*******, if you want. Pardon my expression. To that end, until I work that out, it can be very, very scary. Especially some of the issues, drugs, alcohol, all the usual stuff. When that’s in play, anything goes.”

He adds: “I’ve seen horrific things, some horrific behaviours which I’ve not had to deal with but I wouldn’t want to deal with… You do your level best to push it away but… because I haven’t got the security of a roof over my head, and all the rest of it, I’m constantly on edge about that.”

He still vividly recalls the first 48 hours he was homeless. “I’ve never been so terrified in my life,” Justin explains. “Absolutely, like I didn’t know what to do, mind’s a blank. You’re not operating. It’s something you adapt to.” He adds: “I didn’t know what I was putting myself into, I didn’t know what the future entailed, whether I’d be able to last out. I didn’t really want to go back to the same kind of scenario as doing bad stuff like I was when I was younger. But, obviously, I was throwing myself right into an environment and a community where that’s endemic.”

Justin, who says he has only “briefly” been in trouble with the law but admits getting “cautioned a lot”, is hoping to get a secure tenancy in a private property. He describes the frontline services in Manchester as “fantastic”. “Without realising it, [they] are stopping a lot of trouble in the city centre because people are coming here to eat, they’re not robbing your Greggs or rattling and breaking windows and stuff like that,” he explains.

Justin isn’t the only one who has found unusual shelter. Paul Hacking ended up at the airport – but he wasn’t catching a flight. The 49-year-old was homeless and in search of a place to stay. Paul has been in emergency accommodation since July but hasn’t always been so fortunate. “I was in the airport [before],” he explains. “Well, I was homeless but I don’t consider myself homeless… I class it [the airport] as my biggest tent on [the] planet.” He adds: “I used to go in terminal two and pretend you were travelling but after about three week[s] they realise you’re not travelling.”

Paul starts lyrically reeling off the locations he has found shelter. “Terminal three, here and there. Under the stairs, here and there.” Then sighs deeply, adding: “But eventually when you get known to the police and one thing and another, it’s better to just stay at the train and bus station [at the airport] where you don’t get harassed as much.”

Four-and-a-half-months is the longest stint he has spent at the airport, Paul says. He’s been coming for breakfast at Lifeshare since 2022. The breakfast is not, he says cheekily, a “Gordon Ramsay…experience” but “I can guarantee you now it’s the best frigging one I’ll see”.

While the food does not get top marks, the experience deserves a Michelin star. Paul, who says he has served prison time, adds: “This is a life-saver, it’s not just for breakfast.

“It’s about your flippin’ socks, when you’ve had them on for a week. It’s about your underpants, it’s about your clothing. I got these 12 month ago from this very place,” he says, lifting his leg to show his footwear. It’s not about just the breakfast and food, it’s much, much more than that.”

Jimmy Dunn, who runs Lifeshare’s breakfast mornings, shares that sentiment. The 62-year-old – who says the issue of homelessness is “definitely getting worse” – tells how people come for companionship. Those visiting include people in accommodation but enduring poverty. “We’ve got people walking four or five miles to get here in the morning,” Jimmy says. “We’ve got people queuing up. We had 20 people stood outside this morning at 7am… There’s a reason for that.” To donate to Lifeshare please visit: https://www.lifeshare.org.uk