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firky wrote:The hilarious thing is the UK Government's way of collecting date on homeless people. Basically they only count the 'seen sleeping rough' homeless people in major cities, so the average number of homeless people is only about 800 across the country IIRC. When in actual fact it's probably nearer 80,000 people when you take into account all the people in B&Bs or couch surfing.

My partner works in advocacy and she's been working with homeless clients for about 10 years, it's the same in Ireland only rough sleepers being counted and only if they avail of services can they be counted. Government agency initiatives don't focus on prevention which seems nuts given that it has to be easier to keep people accomodated than find accomodation once it's been lost.

In answer to the question yes I do

Gave them cigarettes before, not money as i don't have it when i go into town, usually only money for the train.

But a big group i came across at some abandoned building before said they'd prefer to be homeless because they was lonely back at their houses

There isn't many homeless folk in my town, sometimes see a lot of folks playing instruments (they sometimes "look" poor, I guess) and more often than not I'll dump whatever coppers/5ps I have into their bucket.

A bigger issue in our town is big issue sellers (hohoho). Theres so many, and I will usually ignore them and distance them. The last time I was asked to buy the Big Issue was only last week, the dude was actually in the middle of the pavement in front of Tesco. Usually they'll be in closed shop doorways or alleyway openings. This dude in front of tesco I felt so bad for not helping. "Big issue sir?" "Nah, sorry mate" I don't know, I felt like shit for ages after it. Usually I'm never in that close proximity of the sellers.

No idea what the point of sharing this was, come to think of it

say_whut wrote:There isn't many homeless folk in my town, sometimes see a lot of folks playing instruments (they sometimes "look" poor, I guess) and more often than not I'll dump whatever coppers/5ps I have into their bucket.

A bigger issue in our town is big issue sellers (hohoho). Theres so many, and I will usually ignore them and distance them. The last time I was asked to buy the Big Issue was only last week, the dude was actually in the middle of the pavement in front of Tesco. Usually they'll be in closed shop doorways or alleyway openings. This dude in front of tesco I felt so bad for not helping. "Big issue sir?" "Nah, sorry mate" I don't know, I felt like shit for ages after it. Usually I'm never in that close proximity of the sellers.

No idea what the point of sharing this was, come to think of it

That`s like the damn Hare Krishnas selling their books.
They even purposefully put a guilt trip on you.

Yeah. Last time was pretty embarrasing. I was at McDonald's in Edgware Road, just waiting for a friend to come out of the toilet. He came up to me and I litterally nothing, he then asked around other people inside the shop. Just before he went back upstairs, I found my last scraps of change, which amounted to 26pence. When I went to give it to him, he looked at it and considered whether or not he needed it that bad. He had more money than I had.

tl:dr
The awkward moment when the homeless person you give money to has more than you do.

As it stands, im living off £1 a day, so im not really in a position to be giving hand outs. But when I have done, its a case of offering to buy something, not cash. Will also give out a cigarette or two...

Amusing story though. A mate of mine was once hanging around Reading train station at like 9/10 in the morning, still up from the night before on a fair cocktail of chemicals. Someone (who he later worked out) wasnt actually homeless, was just someone who needed to get the train, came up and asked him if he could have a few pennies to make up the rest of his train ticket. My mate (not being in the soundest of mind state) triumphantly hought I AINT GIVING THIS HOMELESS MAN MONEY TO SPEND ON DRUGS, and promptly walked him to a burger king and bought him a whopper One confused commuter lol

Oh, and no one should be knocking the big issue imo. Great scheme for the homeless to get themselves on track, have a look into the system, it can do a world of good! But yeah, is a difference between someone trying to force a feeling of guilt, and the homeless person who came up to me the other day and asked if I would buy a big issue if he did the hokey cokey with me. Thats more like it.

No, im not in the habit of feeding other peoples addictions, I have my own to feed.

I always get people coming up to me and asking for a pound for the bus. I get the pound out and say 'hold up, im not stupid, you are gonna spend this on alcohol or drugs arent you. They usually reply 'yes' to which i reply 'fuck off' and put the money back in my pocket.

Alternatively when they ask I tell them I gave them a pound about an hour ago and not to be so greedy.

Smoked a joint with a tramp in Penzance once. Then he followed us round for the rest of the day asking for more weed or some money. Bit awkward!
Not sure I've ever given a homeless person money though to be honest. I've only ever seen about two homeless people actively begging in my 22 years of living in Cornwall.

edit: I'm not against giving money to the homeless. I'll probably be homeless too one day. I just never see any tramps!

£10 Bag wrote:Smoked a joint with a tramp in Penzance once. Then he followed us round for the rest of the day asking for more weed or some money. Bit awkward!
Not sure I've ever given a homeless person money though to be honest. I've only ever seen about two homeless people actively begging in my 22 years of living in Cornwall.

edit: I'm not against giving money to the homeless. I'll probably be homeless too one day. I just never see any tramps!

Ha, I did that once. It was basically right after the tea with turkish incident, and I was feeling faaairly low. Long story short, I went down to the river to have a few spliffs by myself. After having sat there for a while though, I hear a voice shout "alright man" from behind me. I turn around, and see a clearly homeless guy who looks as surprised as I did lol He explained he thought I was someone else, apologised sincerely and set off back up the hill. I was kind of up for chatting with someone id never met before though and asked him down for a spliff. The guy was well appreciative, gave me a couple cans of cider and we ended up sitting by the river drinnking and smoking for a good few hours! Guy seemed pretty sharp to be honest, but was clearly a little bit nuts. Was also really secretive about his past, so I would assume had trouble with the law behind him...but all I saw was a fairly chilling bloke! Was a good afternoon, recommended!

I never give money to homeless people directly, always to charities that will support them since it goes a lot further in the long run (and, to be honest, I know of so many scrounging stnuc who aren't homeless but beg off all the ignorant students)

I give 2 quid to at least one big issue seller a week and tell them to keep the copy.

nope
generally it's an i'm hungry, need money for the bus
offer em some food or a bus pass and they get all offended
that and had some assholes asking for a couple bucks give em like 6 quarters and the dude said what the fuck am i supposed to do with this, took my money back and said you know your right and walked off
and tbh most of em seem better of than i am since they can afford cigarettes at close to 10 dollars a pack

cigs yeah, money no

Ive ended up drinking with homeless quite a few times, not going out of my way to- but I quite like park drinking and they make a beeline for a bag of beers!

Used to give money but after living in Brixton for a couple of years wouldn't anymore- gave to a couple that gradually deteriorated over about 6 months, thay always wanted 'hostel money' then one night saw them smoking crack right under my window. I must have funded them quite a few rocks.

Not really, mainly because most of the time their money will go on drugs, alcohol or other pointless stuff. If they're selling the Big Issue or offering a service like playing money then fair enough. It's an old cliche but I think it's a lot better to buy them food rather than give money.

Interestingly there's a club I've been to a few times which is in a nice area, is a nice club - but there's also a lot of homeless outside on the streets. One night, completely hammered me and my mates sat down and talked to one outside the kebab shop. He said a few years back he had a family and money but blew it all on booze, he also said he used to hang with another homeless guy who ran off with about £5 and his blanket once. We all gave him about 50p and at the time I felt very sorry for him.
However, being sober and looking back, it was clear he spent the money on booze. I even gave him my chips but he gave them to his dog claiming not to be hungry - which was a bit of a piss-take really when he looked so run down.
Also, outside the club, the homeless lurk for any abandoned alcohol. I once saw a bouncer take half a bottle of vodka from 4 guys in the que and he actually crossed the street to go and give this homeless guy the bottle. It was quite messed up in a way.

I understand the whole "give food, not money" mentality, but I'd still rather give them my spare change, which usually adds up to less than a dollar. I aint gunna use my nickles and pennys, why not let the homeless have em? Who cares if they're going to spend it on drugs/alcohol/whatever. With that logic, your bosses shouldn't pay you, as you're going to do the same with your cheque!

I get the food yes money no argument I just think it's flawed and premised on us knowing what's better for an individual than they do. Buy them something to eat and if they have addiction issues they are still going to need to score, give them the money to score and there's often services where they can get food.

Those that are homeless and have issues with alcohol or drugs aren't going to be fixed by someone buying them a burger irrespective of how well intentioned

one time a homeless guy asked me for "money for food" I said no, and I was on my way into a store.

I started to feel guilty about telling him no, so when I was in the store I bought the guy a sandwich and some chips. it was a hot day so I thought it might also be kind to get the guy a water to drink.

I bought this guy lunch and a drink, totalling around $6.00

I went outside and gave it to him and he looked at me like I was a dickhead and he said... "I need some money"

I later found out that the city that I live in has a huge outreach program to feed, clothe and give shelter to the homeless... ONLY IF THE PERSON PASSES A DRUG / ALCOHOL TEST

so after this experience I will not give money to the homeless

*if they have a sign that says "I need a beer" (and I've seen this before) I might reward them for their honesty

i give rarely because I refuse to believe that so many people have -
a)lost their bus/train money
b)need to get to the hospital as their partners in labour
c)needs a choccy bar because they are diabetic (best blag I've heard but then heard it 3 times in a week)

I also wonder how so many of these people can get a bus for 40p as they all claim. Where are these cheapy cheap buses? Yes I'm a cynic but after getting asked by so many of the same people who I see hanging around the rehab clinic near my house, can you blame me.


totally agree about giving people goods rather than cash also. am quite happy to spare a tab or some chips n that every now and then, maybe even the odd spliff

kidshuffle wrote:I understand the whole "give food, not money" mentality, but I'd still rather give them my spare change, which usually adds up to less than a dollar. I aint gunna use my nickles and pennys, why not let the homeless have em? Who cares if they're going to spend it on drugs/alcohol/whatever. With that logic, your bosses shouldn't pay you, as you're going to do the same with your cheque!

Completely different. You help out your boss by offering a service which you are paid for. Some people would argue they are not paid enough, I know I am not paid as much as I should be.
The only reason the boss pays you is for their own financial gains.

Paying a tramp is out of pity and sympathy to hope they can somehow survive their day or scenario. If they betray that by further harming themselves then it defeats the object of payment, major difference.