'It gets harder adding photos to the wall': The homeless shelter remembering those dying on Britain's streets

A sea of framed faces greet you upon arrival at the Wellspring Centre in Stockport.

Most are men; only some are fortunate enough for somebody to have known their full name and age to accompany their image.

The tragedy linking them all? Every single one is a homeless or vulnerable service user who has died.

The grim task of placing a new picture on the memorial wall is becoming an all too regular occurrence for Jonathan Billings, who has led the charity for nearly two decades.

“It gets harder and harder adding photos to the wall and attending funerals,” he told ITV News. "We have many clients that use our services regularly who we constantly worry about.”

Moving along the row of faces, Jonathan can explicitly recall the harrowing circumstances of each death. The most recent is still raw.

"This year, we lost a gentleman called Shaun who took his own life. Shaun's death will live long in my memory as he was someone who we could have helped more had we known what he was going though."

Martin Hyde is another young face on the wall. A catalogue of failures by local services meant Martin slipped through the net after leaving his children's care home.

He was brutally murdered over a £15 debt.

"Every time I walk through that door, his picture is there," his uncle Christopher, who is also homeless, said tearfully.

"I look up and I kiss the picture."

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The wall is a sobering reminder of what those on the frontline of the homelessness crisis say is a national disgrace that has gone under the radar for too long - while Westminster continues to be consumed by Brexit.

Until Thursday, there were no UK-wide figures of the number of people dying on the streets; no public agencies - not the police, local councils, NHS trusts - kept records.

This black hole of information, campaigners say, is indicative of the institutional indifference shown towards the country's most vulnerable.

Jonathan's organisation was one of a few to always keep track of those who have used the service and are known to have died, either on the streets or in temporary accommodation.

His work - and that of local media across the country - has now finally pushed the government to start collating the figures.

The next step, Jonathan says, is to ensure the complex causes - whether it be financial hardship, addiction, relationship breakdown or mental health issues - are thoroughly examined to prevent others meeting the same devastating fate, dying unnoticed and unaccounted for.

By quite literally counting their deaths, Jonathan wants the resulting figures to act as a wake-up call to society - and ensure the typical Christmas upsurge of generosity and goodwill towards the homeless is sustained well beyond the festive period.

"We don't want to put anymore people up on that wall."