It's taken her 29 years to write.

But a mum’s heartfelt thank you to the ‘beautiful people’ who helped her as a homeless teen in Manchester was worth the wait.

In an emotional post on Reddit the woman, who asked not to be named, thanks the ‘absolute TON of decent people’ she encountered while sleeping rough in the city centre in the mid-90s.

And she also praises the ‘beautiful city’ of Manchester adding ‘sorry it’s taken me so long’ to say thanks.

The woman has since turned her life around and no longer lives in the our region.

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

This is her letter in full:

"Twenty nine years ago I was 14 years old, homeless & sleeping rough in Manchester city centre. I was there for two years.

“There were many times I was afraid, cold, tired & hungry.

“There were incidents when drunk clubbers would verbally abuse me, urinate on me & make me feel subhuman. There were occasional dangerous incidents involving other homeless people & members of the public, the Police were often nasty & treated homeless people like vermin. I had to beg to get money for food, sanitary protection, access to transport for medical reasons.

“I ate from bins. I slept in doorways, behind shops, anywhere I could. Most nights I was too scared to sleep.

“Just to challenge the stereotype though, I didn’t drink or use drugs & I somehow remained vegetarian during that time!

“However, there were an absolute TON of decent people I encountered & I have always wanted to say thank you to those that did treat me like a human. From those passers by that gave me money & food, to the homeless people who showed me where the soup kitchens were & where I could get help to the Police Detective who ended up bringing me a butty every day at one point.

“There were church groups, outreach groups - a lot of grassroots charity. All those that helped, donated or supported those things - thank you. You literally saved lives."

“There was an amazing old guy who hung around the edges of the homeless community. He asked me one day what I needed most (aside from money, he was as poverty stricken as me) & it so happened I had started my period in the night & had no way to clean up. I just answered “clean underwear” not thinking anything of it. By tea time he found me again to hand a bag of clean washed (but second hand) pants over. He’d literally been trying to sort it out all day. I often think of his kindness, I wish I’d had chance to go back & thank him. Given his age at the time I doubt that’s an option.

“There were also some amazing locals who let me have a bath in their house on occasion. I mean, it was kind of dodgy going back to someone’s place not knowing them, I wouldn’t recommend it to any 14 year old girls. However the 3 or 4 people in question were 100% respectful & nothing untoward happened. I wish I could thank those people now. If you’re out there I wish you could know how much that meant to me & how there were plenty of people that took advantage, thank you for not being that a***hole.

“There is one person I’d like to thank more specifically. He let me crash at his place for ages, really went out of his way to help me. I genuinely would love him to know I am a happy Mum of two & settled now. He helped me be safe then so I could get here now. His name was Trevor, he lived in Salford. He was the funniest, gayest, most beautiful man with the most manly moustache in all of Manny! & I owe him a massive thank you.

“There were so many people who I wish I could thank, but I guess I’ll never be able to. Instead I’ll have to settle for a generic thank you to Manchester. You are a beautiful city with some beautiful people & I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to say it.”

Got a story or an issue you want us to investigate? Want to tell us about something going on where you live? Let us know - in complete confidence - by emailing newsdesk@men-news.co.uk , calling us on 0161 211 2323 , tweeting us @MENnewsdesk or messaging us on our Facebook page . You can also send us a story tip using the form here .