19/08/2026
A Bed Every Night: from Greater Manchester to the whole of England
Today’s announcement of £442 million to help ensure that everyone who needs it has a route off the streets this winter is welcome news.
We’re particularly proud to see the approach developed here in Greater Manchester helping to shape the national response.
At Greater Together Manchester, we began running night shelters in 2016, working with churches and community organisations to provide people experiencing homelessness with a safe place to stay.
Then, during the “Beast from the East” in 2018, we worked with other partners to opened buildings across Greater Manchester to provide emergency shelter. What we learned from those experiences helped demonstrate what could be achieved when communities, charities and public services worked together.
That learning became part of the inspiration for A Bed Every Night, which now provides more than 600 beds a night across Greater Manchester.
Through the Greater Manchester Homelessness Action Network (GMHAN), we have also been proud to play a part in bringing together people with lived experience, charities, councils, public services and others to help develop and strengthen the model.
So, while today is rightly about looking forward, it is also a moment to recognise the many people and organisations who have helped make this possible.
We’re proud that something which grew from local communities opening their doors to people who had nowhere else to go is now helping shape a national response.
No one should be left to sleep rough. Everyone deserves a safe place to call home, and the support they need to rebuild their lives.
We look forward to sharing what we’ve learned from Greater Manchester and continuing to work alongside partners to make that ambition a reality.
