Homeless people help?

[Milzy]

Walking through Leeds there’s more homeless people than ever before. Some can be serious hardened beggars. Others just queit and mellow.
The question is should we give them money? I do sometimes but usually after a meal I save what I’ve left and take it outside to give to them. As the years go on, it only gets worse.

 

[Dave 123]

I tend to pass on clothes that I'm not using anymore. I've also given them sleeping bags that I no longer require.

I'm of the (probably quite common thought, though maybe misguided) mindset of 'I'm not giving them money to p1ss up the wall'

I like to help where I can.

 

[redvision95]

It's becoming a common thing in my town too. Some are, as you said, serious hardened beggars who (around here anyway) are generally just trying to get money for a fix, however, there are a few who genuinely just want some food. They tend to hang around the supermarkets around here. I never give money, ever. I have on a few occasions offered to buy them a sandwich or a drink, I've only ever had two people say no id rather have the money, to which they got told then im sorry but I've got no change.

I started a new job in security last month and I've gotten to know one of the local homeless guys, Doesn't drink or take any drugs. Just sits outside the venue I work at on the street and says goodnight to everybody as they leave. I've given him a few pairs of socks and a change of boxers a few times now and bought him a pair of gloves and a hat. What a lot of people seem to forget is that these homeless people are still people and not just crap on the bottom of our shoes, Its the little things that matter, a minute or two just chatting with them will make most of them happier than you would know.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

It was exactly the same in Oxford just before Christmas - every "pitch" seemed occupied

...and yes, we do.

 

[Drago]

No cash. Clothes, food, a cuppa, by all means.

 

[Paulus]

In Barnet we have had an influx of people sleeping rough, as well as the more hardened beggars, 3 playing the same tune on accordions, several well dressed women asking for bus fare money. I have offered the rough sleepers if they want tea and a sandwich in the past to be told that "that's no f****ing good. I don't bother anymore.

 

[BoldonLad]

I have a son (now aged 43) who has been homeless, several times. I cannot imagine it is an easy thing for him to bear, and, I can assure you, it is not an easy situation for me, as a parent (although, at 43, he is hardly a child). IMHO, giving money makes the donor part of the problem, not part of the solution. Giving "things" food, clothing, etc makes the donor feel better, and, may make the recipient feel they have not been totally abandoned, but, in the grand scheme of things, achieves little.

But, after 27 years of dealing with this problem, no, I have no idea how to "fix" it.

 

[screenman]

I have a son (now aged 43) who has been homeless, several times. I cannot imagine it is an easy thing for him to bear, and, I can assure you, it is not an easy situation for me, as a parent (although, at 43, he is hardly a child). IMHO, giving money makes the donor part of the problem, not part of the solution. Giving "things" food, clothing, etc makes the donor feel better, and, may make the recipient feel they have not been totally abandoned, but, in the grand scheme of things, achieves little.

But, after 27 years of dealing with this problem, no, I have no idea how to "fix" it.

Your kids are always your kids no matter what age they get, I cannot even begin to know what you feel like.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I'm glad my employer doesn't apply the "You're not getting any money cos you'll waste it on all kinds of shite " approach...

 

[Soltydog]

I'm glad my employer doesn't apply the "You're not getting any money cos you'll waste it on all kinds of shite " approach...

I've never thought of it that way, but you are spot on there, who are we to judge what they are going to spend 'any cash we may give them' on

 

[Drago]

I'm glad my employer doesn't apply the "You're not getting any money cos you'll waste it on all kinds of shite " approach...

But you actually do something in exchange for it?

 

[screenman]

I will give change if I have some with me, my brothers have never been homeless, I have though and I wish somebody had helped us out at the time.

 

[theclaud]

The local BID are currently pushing a scheme to stop people giving money to homeless people. It's dressed up as a way of helping them but it's quite transparently am exercise in street cleansing.

Here's a concise articulation of the case for giving money to people who obviously need it. Doing so doesn't stop you setting up a direct debit to a homelessness charity whose work you respect.

 

[Drago]

so what.

So what, so what?

 

[Cuchilo]

For 20p i want a bit more than singing and bloody dancing i can tell you !
The problem here is the people that are asking for money are not homeless , they are just lazy gambling piss heads and junkies that live on the council estate . How do i know , because ive lived here for 20 years .