TWO friends said they have a new-found experience respect for homeless people have enduring a night of abuse during a charity sleepout.

Carl Watkins, from Llandybie, and friend Ashley Morris, co-founder of the Helping our Homeless charity, spent 24 hours on the streets of Cardiff with no money or good and relied solely on what the public would give them.

During the evening they had water bottles kicked at them, were the centre of a brawl, were scorned at, and were even told they would be set on fire.

Prior to the 24 hours in Cardiff, the pair had been taking donations in aid of the homeless, such as sleeping bags and equipment.

The donations came from raffles and bingo nights that they had organised, and the Samaritans charity gave them a rent-free room for 12 months to store all the donations.

Mr Morris said: “I’ve got to say, I consider myself a strong person. I’ve been through hell before now, but I can hand on heart say that was one of the worst experiences of my life.

“We’re knackered. We’re hungry. We’re hurting. We’re freezing. We had water bottles kicked at us, we were at the centre of a brawl, we were scored at, and we were threatened to be made a bonfire of.

“We had to endure this for 24 hours. The genuine homeless have this 24/7. Utmost respect and love to these guys.”

Ashley’s Grandmother, Anne James, said: “We went out for food in Cardiff a while ago and saw a young man reading a book under his blanket on the street. We gave him £2 and went inside, then it started raining and Ashley went to buy him an umbrella straight away.

Ever since then, he’s been buying things like blankets, sleeping bags, hot drinks and personal hygiene products for the homeless.”

The newly registered charity, Helping Our Homeless, has a large following on Facebook which continues to grow.

If you would like to contribute towards the charity, visit paypal.me/helpingourhomeless or facebook.com/HelpingOurHomelessWales/ to find out more.