'I've been freezing and lonely - it's really not nice being homeless': Dudley social media influencer sleeping rough in Wolverhampton for charity

Michael Withnall started his challenge sleeping rough and busking in the doorway of the former River Island store on Dudley Street in Wolverhampton on Monday morning.

The challenge will see the 38-year-old stay outdoors on the streets until 12.30pm on New Year's Eve, with all proceeds raised going to the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA) Charity.

He said he had been inspired to do his own challenge for charity after taking part in a campaign at Christmas time with a girl called Amelia Haywood to raise funds and collect presents for Birmingham Children's Hospital.

He said: "We raised 1,000 presents for Amelia's campaign and I was left thinking I wanted to do something myself to help people and I thought about homeless people, as it's a big thing in every city, not just Wolverhampton.

"I decided to sleep rough on the streets for two days to raise funds for the people who need it most and I chose the SSAFA charity as they help all the veterans who come out.

"I chose them as I've got a couple of friends who came out of the army and they've literally been on the streets and without the help of SSAFA, they wouldn't be here today, so I just thought it would be a great charity to do it for."

Mr Withnall said the first night had been a real challenge, with the temperature dropping to freezing, and he found that time was passing slowly, only falling asleep at 4am, and said it put into perspective what homeless people went through on a regular basis.

He also spoke about the support he had had from people in Wolverhampton - and about raising more funds than he ever expected to raise.

He said: "I've been freezing and lonely and I couldn't imagine being out here all the time and putting myself in their shoes as it's really not nice, being homeless, and being here day in, day out, is hard to imagine.

"The people in Wolverhampton have been amazing in their support, with so much food and support and money, and I want to thank them for supporting me on this.

"The target was £500, but we've already got more than £1,600 on Facebook and the GoFundMe page and there's more than £300 in the bucket I've had outside, so people have really chipped in and come together as a community."

He said that while it had been very challenging, he was more than prepared to do it again and said he hoped he could inspire people to do similar challenges.

He said: "I want to go and do this in other cities and, while I will spend New Year with my family, I might do another one of these elsewhere.

"I would like to think I could inspire other people and what I would say is that it's not as easy as you would think, but you'll never truly understand the power of what you can do unless you physically come out and do it."