A kind-hearted student who was moved by seeing a shopper buying a drink for a homeless man ended up giving away 144 sleeping bags to rough sleepers in Manchester.

Brooke Edgington, 20, a student at Manchester Metropolitan University, went out in the city centre with a group of friends to distribute the bags.

Brooke was inspired to get involved when she saw a man buying a cup of tea for a homeless man. She said it boiled down to the compassion her mother taught her.

In a post on Facebook, she said: “Beyond freezing cold but nothing compared to how the homeless people must feel day to day especially at this time of year!”

She said: “I thought it was really nice and I wish I’d of told him I thought that” she says.

A couple of minutes later she passed by a homeless woman sitting outside a local café and stopped by to get her a soup and a sandwich from inside.

When she reached home, she got into contact with a family friend, who distributes sleeping bags for the homeless all over the UK.

“I contacted him to find out where I could buy some from as I would like to give some out myself and he said he had 144 I could have!”

“People were more than happy to come and help. It was a really good night, everyone involved enjoyed it. They said they would do it again tomorrow! We are currently trying to find out if there’s any more we can have.”

Brooke’s father, Tony Edgington says: “I’m very proud of my daughter for taking it upon herself to firstly get hold of the sleeping bags and secondly for organising the distribution to the homeless people of Manchester.

“I feel a lot of our younger generation get bad press but this goes to show we should be so proud and look forward to these youngster becoming responsible thoughtful adults.”

Although the numbers of rough sleepers this year are still not published, last year 1,600 people registered to the council as homeless.

“This was just a good deed” Brooke says “We’re really not looking for brownie points!”

The MEN has pledged to support and publicise the Manchester Homelessness Charter at appropriate opportunities.

If you are affected by issues surrounding homelessness in any way, or if you want to do something to help, you can go to: streetsupport.net