Family and friends of Manchester's first homeless tour guide gathered together at an emotional memorial ceremony to honour and pay tribute to his life. Much-loved Danny Collins passed away in July aged 66 after a long illness.
Danny, a beloved grandfather, spent years living on the city's streets and worked with Invisible Cities as a tour guide in Manchester city centre. The social enterprise trains people who have experienced homelessness to become walking tour guides of their own cities and also operates in Edinburgh, Glasgow, York, Cardiff and Liverpool.
Friends said Danny's tours taught his visitors about 'humanity and respect'.
Often moving and eye-opening, his tours were punctuated with readings of his original poems as he led visitors to the spots where he slept rough and spent much of his time when he was homeless, like Manchester's Central Library, Albert Hall, the Hidden Gem and St Ann's Church.
The memorial celebration was held at Whitworth Locke in Manchester's Civic Quarter on Princess Street on Tuesday. Friends and family shared anecdotes and members of the award-winning performing arts charity Streetwise Opera, which works to enable people who have experienced homelessness to find inspiration and empowerment as they rebuild their lives, also performed.
Former soldier Danny, 66, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after leaving the military, which eventually led to him becoming homeless. He moved to Manchester because he didn't want to be homeless in his native Liverpool and became an adopted Mancunian.
Danny spent four and a half years living on the streets before finding help from homeless charity The Booth Centre. He spent his first night in his new home on Christmas Eve 2016.
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His tours helped visitors understand how easy it can be to fall on hard times and how you can become invisible when dealing with homelessness.
During a tour joined by the Manchester Evening News in 2018, guests were taken to a spot near Central Library where John Cassidy's famous statue, 'Adrift' stands. It was there that Danny explained how a fellow rough sleeper and former accountant 'fell apart' when his wife died and ended up on the streets.
"He spent 20 years living on the street. He was a very educated guy and he said to me one day 'when you wake up in the morning on the street, even the statues are looking down on you'.
"I thought that was really poignant," said Danny.
Invisible Cities' guided tours give people affected by homelessness a chance to walk tourists through 'their Manchester'. Alice Sparks, who set up the Manchester tours, says Danny did remarkable work in his final years and could connect with anyone.
Speaking to the M.E.N. for a tribute piece, she said: "Danny was Invisible (Manchester)'s first ever tour guide. He laid the foundations for the organisation to train people who had lived on the streets to become tour guides. It was a big gamble, all I could offer to him was a cup of tea and the small chance that we might be able to pull it off.
"He said that we were as mad as each other, but he trusted in the idea and by October 2018 we had our first ever customers on a tour. I'd say in that first year, I spent more time with Danny than I did with any friends or family - it would not have been possible without him.
Invisible Cities CEO Zakia Moulaoui Guery said: “Danny was not only the first Invisible Cities guide we worked with in Manchester, for many he also was the face of our tours in England and beyond. It has been an incredibly hard time for our team and trainees, guides who have worked closely with him and shared so many lovely moments together.
"We take comfort in knowing how much the tours and team meant to Danny and as we look back through photos and videos of our time together, we realise we had so much fun. He will never be forgotten."
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