Beggars in the UK

[dowie]

If we all feel this way.
What do you think can be done and should be done ??

well (hopefully) it will be easier to send back/prevent the entry of some of the non-native beggars in the near future:

though frankly people should stop giving the scumbags money, the reason you get these annoying smelly individuals on say the tube giving a sales pitch to each carriage is because it is a lucrative business, every time I've seen one they get some change from at least one if not 2-3 people in the carriage I'm in and by the time the train gets to the next stop they've moved to the next carriage (on less crowded trains I've seen them use the emergency exit doors too to get to the next carriage while the train is still moving

 

[Efour]

That's precisely the kind of scum I'm talking about. I would not pee on them if they were on fire. The amount of cash they "steal" from kind people is sick.

 

[bartledvd]

Got a sandwich and soup deal to give a lady who looked pretty cold begging was told if i got no money to stop wasting her time. Just lovely some people.

In my old town there was a man called chris who was homeless after he lost his wife and could not cope and gave his house and possessions to his sister, He was an amazing artist and who town loved him, he never made any trouble was grateful for anyone who bought him a coffee or sandwich or art supplies sadly he passed away number of years ago now and thousands turned our for his funeral.

 

[aardvark]

In Leeds they've all now got dogs because they've figured people will give them more money if they have a dog, I've literally watched the market change over the past few years, one of them had a dog and now they all do. You're an idiot if you give money to any of them.

yep - loads of professional beggars in leeds now - saw a couple with well fed dogs last night.
there are certainly a lot more than in previous years.

 

[FishFluff]

yep - loads of professional beggars in leeds now - saw a couple with well fed dogs last night.
there are certainly a lot more than in previous years.

There was that one fat guy who used to sit on the corner of Boar Lane on the way to the train station. He was given an ASBO as it turns out he had a comfy flat in Seacroft.

That said, I walk to work about 7AM and there's been a huge increase in the amount of genuinely rough sleepers in the last few years. I probably see about 10-15 on my walk across town. That's something that never used to happen,

 

[builder22]

it seems like a lot of people give food to the homeless...it's not out the question that they might just not be hungry after the 10th supermarket sandwich that day

 

[Scotty123]

Pretty bad in Leeds. Often when I go further into the city centre from where I live, someone will be coming up to me asking money. I try and avoid going in now. M&S and Coop at West Point is usually as far as I'll walk. Although had people come round asking for money when sat outside at Lazy Lounge. Saw them all congregating at that church along Boar Lane last Winter, spitting on one another . Last week one was having a wee outside the train station as if no one was around either .

 

[stopper]

That sums up the way this country is going. Try to use a cash point and get threatened with AIDS.

You believing that pile of turd sums up the way this country is going.

 

[XeNoN89]

I used to think the homeless problem was bad in London untill I visited California. Never seen anything like it, massive crowds of homeless people on some streets

 

[FishFluff]

I used to think the homeless problem was bad in London untill I visited California. Never seen anything like it, massive crowds of homeless people on some streets

Yeah San Francisco is especially bad. That's what happens though when you have no social safety net and no free mental health care.

 

[TheVoice]

The area around Glasgow Central Station has become really bad for this, with people all over the pavement and doorways. It's very sad to see, as it's no way for a human being to exist. As a main transportation route, this could very well be a visitor's first impression of the city.

They do get dealt with but they just come back again or locate somewhere else nearby. They know to stay just outwith station property so that they're not technically BTP's problem and Police Scotland are busy enough to be dealing with the beggars all over the city.

 

[rIcK]

When I moved to Manchester in 2014 there were a small handful. Now they are literally in every nook and crannie, cash machine, shop entrance. Walking around Picadilly Gardens and station you won't have any troubles getting into decent double digit figures from just a few streets.

I used to think the homeless problem was bad in London untill I visited California. Never seen anything like it, massive crowds of homeless people on some streets

On my San Francisco trip recently I noticed this, some areas of the city are completely clear and no sign of homeless. Yet in some areas around Chinatown and that end of Town as you say there are literally hundreds of people. Its quite incredible the scale of the issue.

 

[Ninco!]

it seems like a lot of people give food to the homeless...it's not out the question that they might just not be hungry after the 10th supermarket sandwich that day

Save it for later? Screwing up and throwing packaging or a half eaten sandwich in the middle of the pavement, I rapidly lose sympathy. I never give any money as I rarely carry cash!

There is a lady (I do not believe for a minute is homeless) who is vile and abuses people. Once she asked me for cash and I mentioned that I did not have my wallet with me (which was genuine) she rudely told me to go and fetch it...

 

[Undesirable]

You believing that pile of turd sums up the way this country is going.

What reason would he have to lie about such a thing? Do you think life in the UK is so wonderful at present that nothing like that could possibly happen?

 

[Rroff]

Yeah San Francisco is especially bad. That's what happens though when you have no social safety net and no free mental health care.

Not just the difference in benefits, etc. the health care system and no shortage of unscrupulous companies (not just in the movies heh) all too happy to make money off vulnerable people - even when they have to know it will result in them ending up in the streets.

 

[malachi]

I used to think the homeless problem was bad in London untill I visited California. Never seen anything like it, massive crowds of homeless people on some streets

That's why I have no sympathy for the homeless in the UK when there are so many options here to help them compared to the US. When you look at them over in the US you can see some are generally mentally ill but with no healthcare system like the NHS over there, if you cant work and you dont pay healthcare insurance then on the streets you go to die its a shame.

 

[-UnderClocker-]

There never used to be many beggars where I live. But over the past five years, their numbers have steadily increased. It seems like mostly foreign (possibly Syrian) people do the begging here. In some cases, it's like several members of the same family do it. There are some others that do it too though and some of them are brave. I've been asked to go to an ATM machine and give people £30 before. I can't help but laugh when asked for that. I'm hardly wealthy myself. £30 is not spare change. I don't give money to people because I've seen them taking drugs in the streets. Even if they do use some/most of the money they beg for, for food/shelter, they get enough to take drugs and buy alcohol. Not helping themselves sadly.

 

[Chris Wilson]

Safe cities for illegal migrants in the US brings a lot of beggars, and here in the UK we have all these doctors and engineers just awaiting their contracts whilst doing a few drugs and a few cash machines. Good innit?

 

[Psycho Sonny]

the rise is mainly due to increase in living costs and no increase in wages for around 10 years now. that coupled with the fact more people are coming here from poor nations and they aren't allowed to work so they beg instead. you even have begging as an occupation where people come here from places like romania on a flight with the sole intention to beg for a few days then go back home where there pounds equal a lot more and enough to last them until their next trip back.

 

[Jean-F]

At worst never give them cash. Drop them a chocolate bar or a sandwich or a can of cola. Giving money just encourages them to buy alcohol or drugs.

Sounds like a plan, but it can backfire
Quite a few years ago, my wife was working for a film advertising company, in Rathbone Street, just off Oxford Street, W1.
At quitting time, she’d walk down Rathbone Place to Oxford Street, with three other women, who all lived near us, and flag a Black Cab to get home.
Almost at the Oxford Street end of Rathbone Place was a (then), Abbey National, with an ATM in the wall.
Invariably, there was a soapy young guy, with a mutt on a leash made of string, sitting by the ATM begging for the price of a cup of tea.
One afternoon, my wife withdrew some cash for the taxi fare, and the guy hit on her for “some spare change” for a cup of tea love.
Putting the cash in her purse, she took out a £5.00 Luncheon Voucher, and handed it to him, he screwed it up, threw it at her, and said, “You can stick that right up your ****.”