A group of people have braved a night on the streets to raise awareness of homelessness in Leigh.

Jayson Lomax-Hargreaves, of Gordon Street, is one of five people who slept outside Leigh Town Hall on Wednesday night with two service users of the Homeless Support Project on Railway Road.

Dad-of four Jayson, 36, who has slept rough in his younger years, was on the streets from 8pm to 6am with Aidan and Michelle Wilkinson, Homeless Support Project volunteer Emma Aspinall, and two of her friends, Holly and Sarah.

He said: "It was a tough night but it was good experience to see what people are going through and hear about how the service users had ended up in their situations.

"As I was in a similar position when I was homeless, I can definitely see how easy it is for it to happen to anyone.

"It was a real eye-opener because most of us walk past homeless people in the streets every day in the cruel reality of our world without knowing about what they are going through."

Between the group, they have managed to reach their target of raising £700 which will be donated to the Homeless Support Project.

Care support worker Jayson added: "The others and I have talked about this being an annual event from now on to keep raising awareness of homelessness.

"I think there definitely needs to be more funding for centres that support people who are sleeping rough.

"Great trees grow from small acorns and if we can turn this sleepout into something bigger then I think it can make a real difference to the community.

"Eventually we want to make sure there is no homeless person in Leigh and the surrounding areas."

Jayson's GoFundMe page is open for donations until December 31.

To donate to it visit gofundme.com/sleeproughhsp.