Largely unnoticed, they wander the streets of Birmingham, a hidden society facing a daily battle for food, shelter and warmth.

And in the past year the constant struggle has seen the number of death’s among the city’s homeless community soar to at least 26.

Perishing on the same streets they call home, no tributes are left where they died as news of their passing only reaches their closest friends.

In death, as in life, they are forgotten.

But this week those who died at the hands of brutal weather conditions and the tightening grip of poverty were remembered and their lives celebrated.

Gathered at Digbeth’s SIFA Fireside centre, a drop-in and support project for the homeless, about 30 people paid tribute to those who have died on the streets through cold, hunger or drink and drug abuse in the past 12 months.

The humanist ceremony was marked with music and poetry, some written by Fireside members and friends of those who died homeless in the cold.

Bill West, 51, who knew many of the dead, said it had been a tough year in which the number of homeless deaths had soared.

“It’s a huge number this year,” he said. “In my experience, we usually lose between six and seven; it seems to have rocketed.

“The cold probably had an influence on people’s health and the recession means that people are getting poorer.

“It’s not just drink and drugs, it’s old age too – and people’s dietary intakes are changing.

“I knew a lot of the people personally from my time on the streets, so it’s been a difficult year.

“Many of them didn’t have family – the other homeless people are their family – so it was a nice to have the ceremony.”

Led by humanist celebrant Victoria Denning, the non-religious ceremony included the lighting of a candle and time to reflect and remember those who had died.

Ms Denning said she hoped the ceremony would offer some closure to those members of the Fireside project mourning lost friends.

“It’s the first time I’ve done a ceremony like this.

‘‘I hope every life is valuable and that these people were valuable to those they’ve lost. I think that should be remembered. I hope it helps them come to some sort of closure.”

Julie Ashford-Martin, an alcohol project worker at Fireside, organised the memorial service after compiling a list of members who died in 2010.

But she said the startling number dying on the city streets could be much higher than 26 if all of the unknown cases were tallied up.

“Some of our clients do not feel that they can go to family funerals. So this felt like the right thing to do, to give people the opportunity to come together.

“Last year there seemed to be a lot of people dying, unless making the list just made us more conscious.

“These are only the people we know about – the actual figure would be much greater.

“I think 26 is a lot of people and that’s just from this one centre. It’s a hidden society.”

>MORE: Richard McComb's report on SIFA Fireside