Do you give to beggars?

Nicki

I believe you need some start up money to be a Big Issue vendor. The way it works is that they buy the magazines for £1.25 each from the publisher and sell it on for £2.50. They are also assigned set pitches, and I assume some will be better than others. If you are living hand to mouth, I suspect it would be quite hard to find even £12.50 to buy 10 copies to net you a £12.50 profit. I also wonder how many you actually sell in a day?

Dark_Immortal_Screams

I am sure many of you will not like this but here goes. I refuse to give anything to beggars or charities. I get no help from anyone including the government! I had an operation a while back because i injured myself @ work and had a month off earning only SSP but because my OH works i wasn't entitled to anything so i struggled to pay my mortgage and had to use (nearly) all my savings to get by for that month. After this experience i decided not to give to charities/beggars. I also think it's wrong the way they put some charity adverts (particularly one's involving children from the 3rd world) by basically making you feel that if you don't give and the child dies then that is your fault because you could have saved a life by donating. Please don't get me wrong, if you want to donate then that's fine i just don't do it myself - this is my opinion.

ska_lover

I never give to beggers. I do buy the big issue regularly though.

faerie~spangles

ska_lover wrote: »

I never give to beggers. I do buy the big issue regularly though.

I used to give Big Issue sellers the money for the mag' and tell them to keep the mag'. I was told stories of an 'issue sellers con.

As in my previous post in this thread, I give food and water/juice.

catkins

I feel very strongly about homeless people in this country. As I said in my previous post, I used to work in London and walk from Charing Cross to Holborn and every morning The Strand in particular would have quite a lot of sleepers in the shop doorways. On a freezing cold or wet morning in particular I would feel close to tears as I walked along knowing I had a reasonably secure job and a home to go to.

I went to London last weekend and was sad to see that things reallhy are no better. There was a truck giving out food to homeless in The Strand and there were an awful lot of people getting food from it.

That is just one part of London. I know along the South Bank there are also a lot of homeless.

Where I live in Essex there are 2 Big Issue sellers and I always try to buy from them. I spoke to one of them this week and he told me there is a homeless shelter in my town which I did not realise.

I have looked in to it on the web and it gives various ways you can help. Obviously they need volunteers but for a few reasons I do not feel I can do that but they also want any clothes that are in a reasonable condition and food.

I have decided to give them any of mine and my husband's clothes rather than taking them to a charity shop and also each time I do a proper shop I will buy at least one item such as a tin of beans or soup etc and when I have a few items will take them to the shelter.

I am far from rich and know I could never give any homeless charity (or other worthwhile charities) a large sum of money but at least I can help out a bit

Kittenkirst

I have bought big issue sellers a cuppa or two in the past. i used to work in Oxford and would see the same sellers regularly. One very cold morning I decided yo treat myself to a naughty starbucks and walked by the big issue gent who said good mOrning. I had no change to give him or buy a mag so asked if he wanted a cuppa. The person in Starbucks saw and asked what i was doing when i went in. He then gave me a muffin for free (they were breaking them up for people to try). I then chatted to the big issue gentleman for five minutes. It broke my heart when he said it was the first proper conversation he has had in 2 weeks.

What I'm getting at is that its not always money homeless people want, just some care.

Whenever I go back home I see that man and he always smiles & has a chat. I can't solve all his problems, but I can show some compassion. I appreciate that not all people are in a position to or may want to do this but I am in a fairly privileged position, with a roof over my head, a wage coming in and a family. (I'll point out that this was befire my debt free status).

Its a very emotive subject and everyone has their own opinions & experience on the matter, lets try to keep the discussion non-personal :0)

Ada_Doom

meritaten wrote: »

there seems to be a growing culture in this country that being 'poor' just cannot happen. That the disabled are just out to 'milk' the welfare state (after all, disabled people take part in Olympics and if THEY can do it ALL disabled people can).
That people who are homeless are just scamming - after all at least a dozen people have done that - never mind that there are THOUSANDS of homeless people.
That people on benefits are just workshy - there are jobs out there - but before you condemn them just go along to the jobcentre or go online and investigate. you may specify a certain area as you have no transport and know the buses dont run to other areas - but jobs as far as a 100 miles away will come up! so will jobs you didnt consider as you arent qualified for them! jobcentre online is a joke!
Not to mention that they advertise jobs which dont meet legal requirements. as in jobs which are commission only or where the NMW is only paid under certain 'conditions'. or even jobs which are 'permanently' advertised as its on a 'trial basis' at reduced wages and - guess what? no one ever gets taken on permanently!
I wonder if those who take to their beds when suffering from 'man flu' ever stop to think how thier rants against those on invalidity being scroungers sound? would you expect someone suffering a serious chronic illness to take on work that would make them worse? this government does and so do many MSE posters!

Totally agree. There was a report out a few weeks ago that showed we are all becoming more intolerant and suspicious of those who claim benefits. What shocks me is that through stories in the media we are losing sympathy even for people with disabilites. You would never guess that our Tory PM was a PR man in his previous job would you?

tillycat123

IanManc wrote: »

When I was at university there was a beggar who was always around the students' union, and plenty of students gave him money ........ until the student newspaper published a copy of his Barclays Bank statement which had somehow been acquired, which showed that he had thousands of pounds in savings - much, much more money than we students had! :rotfl:

I've never given a beggar any money since then.

A year or so ago Manchester City Council took out an ASBO against a beggar who persistently sat near car park cash machines and begged, because repeated arrests and fines didn't stop him.

We have 2 big issue sellers in out town. at the end of the day they get the train back to wherever they live and they travel 1st class.

an9i77

Ada_Doom wrote: »

Do you not think that drinking and taking drugs are fairly reasonable and understandable responses to having to live on the streets? What do you think they should spend their money on? Throw cushions?

Of course they are understandable responses but I don't want my money spent on them! Just as you wouldn't give a large sum of money to a small child to spend on whatever they wanted (may all go on sweets!) you'd either choose what to spend it on or give it to the parents, so in this case i am entrusting the charities to spend my money in the best way. I'd rather my money be spent on a bed for someone for the night, or a hot meal (provided by the charity) than their next fix. of course, not all homeless people are substance dependent, but a great many are and I have no way of telling which are and which aren't.

skypie123_2

Years ago in my old home town there used to be a big guy with bleached hair that used to sell the Big Issue outside Tony and Guy. I remember thinking it was unlikely he had missed many meals due to his size.
Anyway I worked in a call centre at the time and the boss recruited some agency staff and amongst them was this huge guy that I didn't recognise at first. He managed to upset a few people with his disgusting comments about the women in the office and he was telling people that he lived in a council flat here and had properties in Thailand and a Thai wife. One day someone recognised him to be Mr Big Issue seller as he was still selling it despite being on better money that we were (agency staff) anyway he was sacked (because of his offensive comments) and when I told a friend at home about him who happened to work at Tony and Guy he said 'Oh I know him, he gets his cash from selling Big Issue then comes in and has his hair bleached and cut in the salon' :eek: