The fascinating walking tours around Manchester led by people affected by homelessness

Did you know you can go on a walking tour around Manchester, learning fascinating facts about our city’s rich history, where every tour guide has previously experienced homelessness?

Invisible Cities is a brilliant social enterprise that trains former homeless people to become tour guides in their own city, right across the UK.

As well as supporting people into new opportunities and breaking down the stigma around homelessness, these walking tours are just genuinely great fun – even if you already live here and think you know Manchester pretty well.

From past and present pubs to potted histories, each tour is led by someone with first-hand experience of homelessness who has gone on to retrain as a tour guide.

Invisible Cities first started in Edinburgh but has operated walking tours here in Manchester since 2018.

Everyone who is taken on by the organisation is supported (and paid a living wage), whether they choose to become a tour guide, take on other projects, or get referred on to other organisations.

Invisible Cities has recently launched a Crowdfunding campaign to continue and step up their work.

They hope that the funds will allow them to target groups that are harder to reach, including women, and people who have newly arrived in the UK, with a plan to offer them training and transferable skills.

And there’s never been a better time to donate, with Aviva promising to match donations (up to a max match of £250).

As for the walking tours themselves, there are so many new ways to explore Manchester with Invisible Cities.

For example, you could spend an afternoon looping around the city centre learning about Manchester’s brilliant pubs (including the Old Nag’s Head, The Briton’s Protection, and the Peveril of the Peak) and the role they’ve played in shaping the city’s history.

That particular tour is Andy, who retraces his own steps from the 1980s, when he was busy falling in love with the bustling nightlife and rock music scene the area is so famed for.

During Ales & Alleyways: Andy’s Stories of Pubs, you’ll learn about music, the suffragettes, football, Peterloo, Little Ireland and art in Manchester, and reflect back on how different the city used to look.

While the tour is a celebration of the great British pub, there’s no drinking on the tour – instead, it’s a chance to spread awareness about the links between alcoholism and homelessness.

Other Invisible Cities tours in Manchester include Wonderwalk, where Nic will make you fall in love with the music of the city by delving right back in time to the beginnings of the city’s illustrious history of music and art.

Wonderwalk will whisk you from venues like Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Northern College of Music to the legendary music venues like Big Hands and The Deaf Institute.

Invisible Cities says: “The tour champions the legacy of Madchester that will never be lost, but also supports and empowers our smaller venues (which is now more important than ever) who play a huge part in the city’s never-ending, unique music scene.

“Nic strongly believes music is for everyone. Within the tour he takes you to corners of the city’s community that inspire and introduce music, art and dance to those who are isolated or anxious.

“Nic lives his life by these words: music is medicine, music lifts your spirit, softens your heart and brings people together.”

Then there’s We Built This City From Depression, which uncovers the less glamorous side of Manchester’s history, from the industrial revolution to the IRA bombing that led to the regeneration of the city centre.

This Invisible Cities tour is led by Stephen, who’ll unveil the cobbled streets and working people that made Manchester what it is today, plus all the hurdles the city has overcome to end up such a vibrant place to live and visit.

This tour includes visits to the C.S.W Tobacco Factory, Angel Meadows, the Corn Exchange and more.

Find out more about Invisible Cities and book a tour here, or head here to donate.

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Featured image: Invisible Cities