RE: Do You give to beggars?
I dont have a favourite charity, well for giving anyway, I have worked for several and if I do give money to people who are homeless I'll give it to them directly or volunteer my time which I have done.
Its a difficult question and I think it can be coloured by the fact that when people give to charity, they dont always see where the money is going on an end result basis.
I think that Goverments should fund more of the initiatives that charities do and that people shouldnt be bombared by people in the street asking them to give. I know people are only doing their job but they are paid to approach you and will be paid commission on numbers that they get to sign up.
The charities that I do give to are mainly ones that deal with the issues of global poverty in monetary terms I mean. I donate old clothes books and magazines to several charity shops, I also buy from charity shops as well. I started doing this when I was skint, much more so than I am at the moment and didnt have enough money to give so I thought I would donate what I could.
I have given money to the housing charity shelter in the past and have volunteered on helplines and at events where people who were rough sleeping could come in and get a wash and a change of clothes, medical attention and some time with volunteers.
You cant give to all, that is the problem and I dont claim to, I hope that in my own lifetime I will have done enough for me, and enough that I have maybe made a difference to peoples lives.
I also take part in online campaigns to try and put pressure on MP's to look at different aspects of legislation when decisions are being made regarding peoples housing.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
I wouldn't give them money because they might spend it on things I don't agree with (drugs etc). If they need money and they say for a cup of tea or some food, I'd rather buy them or give them something (and I have).
RE: Do You give to beggars?
I can understand that people might not want their money spent on drugs but lets be realistic, if you are struggling to feed a habit, what are you going to spend the money on?
We also cant assume that all people are begging to feed a drug habit.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
The pleasure you get from their expressions when you give them a hot meal (usually a hot sarnie etc,. is lovely. They are so surprised and genuinely smile. It is worthwhile.
You should try it Orangeblossom.
While I appreciate many of you on here have your hearts in the right place, I am afraid my belief is you are perpetuating the problem.
I am probably a lot older than many of you and as I said before, when I was a young woman in London people living on the streets were a rarity.
It is human nature I guess, to expect things throughout your life to improve (on a national scale) and not get worse.
I askwhy in this day and age compared with what we had in the 60s (when I was a young adult) the begging and people on the streets situation is far worse now than then.
People overall had less money to spare and less to spend it on. I came from an unhappy home but I had the sense to know that before I made my exit I needed money so planned my escape with this in mind.
People are not born homeless and to my mind while others keep giving (albeit out of the goodness of their hearts) it gives out the message to youngsters in particular that if things are not going well at home they can always run away. After that they then have to survive and then comes the drug problems and prostitution which often follow.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
sahz i agree with not being able to give money - as there are 2-3 beggers anywhich way you turn where i work..but none where i live...
i would be broke myself - but on the off occasion (as i rarly carry any cash - all my pennies are in the bank literally) that i have change - and i am in the subway, and someone askes me if i have any change so they can use the subway - i give....if i have it...
i once gave a begger on the street a bannanna - and he gave it back and said he wanted money...i was embarrassed because as noone was giving this man any money, he handed the food back to me..in a fit of rage (ok not really rage - i dont get angry much - but he sprked a fire) - mind you i was walking with a friend at the time as well - i shoved the bannanna in his pocket and told him when he got done with his booze he would need something to snack on....
there was a nice gentleman, he was a begger, and he always walked with me and my friend when we got out of work (used to work)and went to the gym (roughly a block n half) and would just talk to us... he was a kind soul.. we never gave much to him, but on occasion my friend and i would buy him a meal... or something to drink... he always had these wild conversations with us - about politics - people - whatever... he hung around a drug store constantly - because he would on the occasion get offered to help unload a truck, and make some easy money - as noone would hire him... i asked him one day why he was in the streets, as one of my coworkers pointed out to me very rudley (i used to go to school with him), and he told me that he stayed in a shelter at night - thats why he never begged for money.. they always kicked him out during the day - so he felt he could do something prosperous and do odd jobs for money.. i asked him a more porbing question - how did you start - and he said when i grduated high school i was already a drug dealer, and it continued for quite some time...really messed my head up, and i ended up getting committed to a funny farm... they kicked me out because none of my family nor the state would pay the bill, and i just couldnt go back to my family after the shame i put them through...
it really got me thinking how our government is, and why we have so many homeless.... different reasons i guess, as each case is different, everyone has a story.. but i dont give to a lot of beggers...simply because i dont have the money... but if i have change then i try - or i buy a piece of fruit, or a hot coffee...
i have been faced with being homeless before... both as a kid and as a grownup... its not fun.. i learned you have to budget, or you could find yourself on the streets really fast where i live - and forget about credit...
i dont give to a charity....i did when i was in the military - it was the cfc fund - and helping other military folk... when i got out i stopped... but i didnt stop giving.. when i was in iraq working - i bought 2 bikes and gave them to some military guys who hung out with us - they were in need of wheels and didnt have vehichles... i would buy them meals - clothing - even ship them things - but i still dont give to charity...
i agree with crystal that you dont always see where your money goes - and after working in the pentagon *ahem* i learned alot about where that money goes - so i dont give...
i do a lot for my friends though...even if they turn thier back on me afterwards... i have given money in times i should have saved... ie my friend i paid her ins for her car, my mom and dad have payed offnumerouse bills and debts, and even tryed buying them a house once or twice. my brother i have even helped out...
but it also depends on your situation... i was doing nothing with that money - and even though i was sacrificing my life basicly in a war torn country, i gave that money away... i felt i didnt need it... that someone could benifit from it... and i gave the majority to my parents (who i dont claim on my ta
RE: Do You give to beggars?
Sometimes young people have no choice but to leave home because they are being abused, not just physically but mentally as well.
Sometimes people leave home and set up home with a partner and the relationship breaks down and one of them needs to leave the marital home. The issue is, when you present to the council for accommodation, you dont get accommodated straight away.
You are entitled to 28 days accommodation until the council decide whether you fit into a vulnerable category. Examples of vulnerable are young people aged 16 and 17, people who have been through the care system, people who are suffering from clinical depression for example.
Even if someone has a priority for housing in many cases due to shortages of housing stock they need to wait 12-18 months before they get a housing offer.
Some families and believe me this happens, dont want their kids living with them end of story.
I know of several young people who have reached the age of 16 and been told, find yourself somewhere else to stay.
I was lucky, I had a supportive family, I didnt leave home till I was 27, I am 37 now, infact I will be 38 tomorrow. My brother is 27 and he still lives with my mum, he is happy to be there and she is happy to have him.
As I said, I had to take a flat somewhere people dont generally want to live because I didnt fit into any of the vulnerable categories and I would stilll be waiting for an offer now.
Believe me, many young people dont want to leave home but have no option, many also have no choice for other reasons.
In a lot of cases young people become homeless when a mum or dad remarries or has another partner and they just dont get on with that person. Sometimes the parent is stuck in the middle and even though it breaks their heart, has asked the young person to go.
I have seen it happen. Not all homeless people are people who have packed their bags looking for the bright lights and not everyone has enough capital behind them to be able to afford to rent somewhere privately if living at home is not an option.
I am paid to do my job and I believe I do it well, but as I said earlier in an ideal world I would be doing something else.
Its not an ideal world though.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
Hi caringsoul,
I don't dish out cash on the streets, but I donate cash and unwanted clothes to homeless charities. I do buy the Big Issue sometimes.
I once knew someone who wasn't homeless, but who would sit underneath Kew Bridge in his old togs, playacting at being a beggar. When I asked him why he did it, he said, 'Because I can earn a lot more doing that than what a real job would pay me.' He would pack up at about 6pm each evening and go back to his comfy flat in Brentford. He stopped his antics when the police picked him up for vagrancy.
Patsy.
P.S. There can be a dangerous side to giving to those who beg on the streets. There used to be a popular begging site at Vauxhall Station. The beggars would all be drunk out of their heads and would attack passers-by if they didn't 'cough up.' I would avoid the station if I could, but if I couldn't, I'd run past them. One night as I was returning home from a meeting, one chased after me because I refused to give him anything. The railway and the police have now made the station a 'no begging' zone.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
Hi orangeblossom,
I agree with you that giving to beggars on the street exacerbates begging. I prefer to donate to homeless charities - they know the ropes far better than I, and they can help genuinely homeless people. Homelessness does seem to be on the increase, far more than it was in the 1960's.
Like you, I had an unhappy home life but I made plans to leave, I didn't simply go. I know that for some, there is really no choice, but living on the streets is no choice either. I don't know what we do about it, quite honestly. I will continue to donate to charity because at least the money gets spent on making homeless peoples' lives better, and not perhaps going to feed a nasty habit, which often happens when folks simply give cash to beggars.
Sunanda makes a good case. Her son is working for a homeless charity, and that's the best way of helping homeless people, I think.
Patsy.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
crystaltherapy, may I ask a couple of questions, since you obviously have much knowledge and experience in this area?
Could the homelessness situation have anything to do with what I believe was an initiative ... some 10? 12? years ago ... to get a number of people out of mental institutions and incorporated back into the mainstream of society?
Also, was Care in the Community instigated at that time? I do have a reason for asking, but unfortunately lack sufficient time just now to post more, or to do online searches on this.
Thanks.
Holistic
RE: Do You give to beggars?
hi holistic - i know in the area i work in - the state cant pay the mental institutions a lot, and so they kick people out - these people either have family that dont want them or no family at all to go to, and end up on the streets living, as they can barley manage themselves in any type of situation - let alone living...thats why they were in the institutes in the first place....
its a vicious cycle, and some have learned to just deal with it and find a nice 'spot' and hang out there for a while until someone tells them they have to move...
i have seen homeless people all over this town...behind museums, on the park benches, just sitting on the sidewalks....curled up on a steam vent.....
its sad... but even in my current condition i cant afford to help....the state should do something - but its as if they dont care...
Ada
RE: Do You give to beggars?
ORIGINAL: crystaltherapy
I can understand that people might not want their money spent on drugs but lets be realistic, if you are struggling to feed a habit, what are you going to spend the money on?
We also cant assume that all people are begging to feed a drug habit.
then I won't give them anything?
if they are asking for money for food and a cup of tea, they shouldn't have a problem with me buying it for them.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
i agree darren - and what do you do when they give you the food back? for me it was embarrassing.... i ended up looking like a total idiot - for trying to be nice...
Ada
RE: Do You give to beggars?
I'll tell you what is a very good resource, community care magazine and I am sure you can get it or parts of it online.
I am sure it was in the mid 1990s that care in the community came into being. I have worked with people who were released from long term hospitalisation into the community and integrated into the community, basically given their own tenancies with support. The problem is for every person who has support, there will be another 20, 30, 40, who fall through the net.
The number of young people I have worked with with serious mental health issues has been unbelievable.
I once had a situation where a young person who had a personality disorder and was living in our project because he had nowhere else to go hada major episode and should have been sectioned for his own safety, we just couldnt get the authorities to do anything about it.
There are not enough resources for people on the margin, for example, you have a 12 space drug rehab with 2000 people waiting to get in, some of whom will be dead by the time they get a space.
You have people with undiagnosed schizophrenia who move around from hostel to hostel and their illness never gets picked up so they start self medicating with alcohol when they start hearing voices.
You get people with mental health issues who start taking medication, think they are well and then stop.
Its a minefield out there. There are too few resources and staff and staff not suffering from burnout, Ive been there myself.
There are times when people could be persuaded to return to the family home, in those cases mediation would be appropriate, yet again, there are too few of these services.
Life is complex and people are complex. Its not good saying well people shouldnt drink, take drugs, leave home, go on the game because I dont agree with it, they do and when they do, people should be supported to get back on track.
I have seen people get back on track and relatively quickly, all they needed was some time out, some support and some help, as I said earlier, that help could just be someone helping them get funds to furnish their flat, assistance on how to pay a bill or how to apply to college.
When people are suffering from a problem that is dually diagnosed, that is a coexisting alcohol and mental health problem as I briefly said above, again its like chicken and egg and as far as I am aware, the number of specialised workers in the Glasgow area was in recent times 2 staff.
Yet there could be 10000 people out there with a drink and mental health issue needing supported.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
I can see where you are coming from, I just wouldnt like as an adult someone going into a shop buying me a sandwich and a cup of tea. Would I need to put my order in with the person buying, would I go with them and stand in Greggs and wait for them to buy me a cheese and onion pasty.
We cant assume that everyone who asks for money is a drug user or even a drinker and thats what the money will go on.
If someone asks me for 20p for a cup of tea, I am quite happy to give them the 20p and move on.
RE: Do You give to beggars?
i understand the point of not wanting the fruit... but he was asking people for money right in front of the fruit stand... and part of his rant was 'can i get a dolla? please? i'm hungry...can you buy me some fruit?'
so - me being the person i am, felt that at least he was honest enough to ask for what he wanted... so i bought a piece of fruit.. he didnt say what type - hell i would have been happy to go get him a meal at mc donlads if he wanted....
my friend said i should have taken the fruit back from him and kept walking... and given it to someone who wanted it...
confusing - i dont know if i did do the right thing by giving in that one moment....