Young people in Manchester who have nowhere to live have shared their heartbreaking stories in a BBC Children in Need documentary.
Journalist Stacy Dooley visited the city to uncover the real-life tragedy of teenagers and other youngsters who have no home.
Stacey Dooley: The Young and Homeless, which aired on Tuesday night, revealed that more than 100,000 16 to 24-year-olds presented themselves as homeless across the country last year based on Centrepoint research.
This figure is thought to be much high as thousands of teenagers slip under the radar.
In the documentary, which was filmed over the course of nine months, Stacey is seen meeting a large group of homeless teens in Manchester, including 18-year-old Shelby.
"We just want a house to call our own instead of being lost," Shelby tells Stacey.
At the time of filming, more than 1,300 people in Manchester said they were homeless in the last year with only 266 of those were counted in official homelessness figures.
Shelby was in care from the age of 14 but after receiving 28 days notice once she turned 18, she had to present herself homeless and found herself on the streets.
She says she has slept on the streets once, but Shelby admits to not telling any authoritative figure. Instead they stay with friends or walk Manchester streets to avoid sleeping rough.
She talks about pride and making the best of a bad situation during the film which Stacey reflects up on.
She said: "It's like an adventure almost but the truth is, they're so vulnerable. Their lives are so chaotic and they need protecting or else they are never going to flourish.
"And that's our responsibility. That's our job collectively as a society to make sure we're not failing the kids that are coming through."
In April this year, a new law, The Homelessness Reduction Act, came into force that would see every young person who is homeless receive the support they need, making them a priority.
Rough sleeping in the North West of England has seen a large increase since 2015, with Manchester seeing the highest figures in the region according to charity Homeless Link who used figures submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government from local authorities.
The documentary also shone the spotlight on organisations such as Manchester's Lifeshare which in the space of four months had helped 130 people.
The voluntary organisations offers a drop-in service twice a week which provides the city's young homeless with a shower, food and help finding a permanent home.
The programme revisits some of the teens to see where they are now.
You can watch Stacey Dooley: The Young And Homeless is repeated on BBC One at 11:50pm on Thursday November 14 and is available on BBC iPlayer now.
Centrepoint is a national youth homelessness charity and operates a drop-in service in Manchester's Northern Quarter for any young person who is homeless or at risk and needs support.
They also run a national helpline for any young person who is worried about homelessness. support is available over the phone: 0808 800 0661 and online via a chat service: https://centrepoint.org.uk/helpline
The documentary aired as part of a week of special programming leading up to the live Children in Need fundraiser on Friday November 16.
This year's campaign is centred around 'Do Your Thing', encouraging people across the country to channel their passions, hobbies or dreams to raise vital funds for disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.
