This left me open mouthed

valk_scot

I'd rather give the money to Shelter or the local hostel tbh. We do have a hostel for young homeless people fairly locally and I support their fundraising efforts as much as I can afford, they do sterling work.

SmallL

My OH (who i think must look very friendly and a bit naive) has had two terrible experiences with people asking for money.

1) A presumably disabled man in a wheelchair asks him to wheel him to the end of the road (slight incline), he does so, he then asks for bus money, my OH gives him about £2. The man then asks him to go to an ATM and get MORE! luckily my OH made his excuses and left.

2) My OH and a friend were targetted by a girl (about 18-22) who had the waterworks on outside a train station, professing to not have money for the train home. my OH gives her a fiver and his friend goes to an ATM to take about £15 out. She was adamant to get both their emails/phone numbers, but she hasn't returned the money or called to say thanks to this day.

I really do hate people that take advantage of the kindness in others hearts

marisco_2

Netwizard wrote: »

Stories like this would put me off giving: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205553/Professional-beggars-earning-200-night-supplement-day-job.html

This has been an on going problem for years. I think it's sickening when people scam others like that, and it also makes life so much harder for those genuinely in dire straits and in need of help. I don't hand cash over to someone on the street but will buy them a drink and something to eat. I give to charities and hope that the little I can afford to give can go some way to making a difference to someone.

pulliptears

when I was a teenager I had a Saturday job in Iceland. Every Saturday around 2pm an oldish woman in a wheelchair would appear outside the shop doors and she'd drop a woolly hat on the floor, a sign saying 'homeless' and sit there, blanket over knees, all afternoon.

5pm we'd start reducing the bread, which at the time was at the back of the store. As soon as she'd see me get the reduction gun from under my till she'd gather up the hat full of coins, jump out of the chair and virtually sprint to the back of the shop to fill her by then vacant wheelchair with reduced bread and cakes.
After a few weeks of this the manager started to move her on but from what we gathered there was nothing at all wrong with her and she had a council bungalow half a mile away she was just a bit eccentric.

Prothet_of_Doom

I fell out with a 'Christian' friend, who told me that if a homeless person asked him for money, he would go and get them a MCd's.

I told him that he had 3 spare bedrooms, in his house, so giving him low cost, low quality, unhealthy food, was hardly the greatest Christian act.

Apparently " these people " don't want any help, because they refuse to follow simple rules.

If I give, I give to Shelter via gift aid.

Jennifer_Jane

I'm very hard-hearted. I never give money to beggars (and actually I thought it was illegal?).

I may give to other charities, if I feel like it. I always give to the Salvation Army who do wonderful work with vulnerable people.

My own experience has been when I worked in Brussels. I would walk home through the snow and ice to see a beggar with no legs at the Galerie Louise (chic shopping centre). One day I saw him propelling himself on his little trolley - it was heartbreaking to see - and getting into a very nice Mercedes.

Once I'd seen this happen a few times, I began to feel that he didn't need my money quite so much as I'd thought.

scooby088

Begging is the easiest way of making money out of gullible people, I am very hard hearted and never give to anyone begging.

Pthree

Faith177 wrote: »

If I see a homeless person who has a dog with them I usually find my nearest shop and get them a couple of cans of dog food and give them a couple of quid.

That way they only have to worry about feeding themselves for a couple of days because their dog is sorted.

I do it so often that OH now does it and so do a couple of my friends

I do this too, or buy sandwhiches rather than give cash

I once passed a mother with a little girl begging for change for food, I didn't have any change but I had a couple of breakfast bars in my bag. I offered them up and was told to f-off !

owen_money

We had a beggar in our town once, but the local chased him off with pointed sticks

RevolvingDoor

jetplane wrote: »

Posts like this intrigue me, many people refuse to give a homeless person cash in case they spend it on something other than food, hot drink or emergencies or get rich from begging, however you do not need to be homeless and destitute to sell the big issue. It is self employment and enables people, including EEA nationals, to work the required hours each week 16 - 24 to claim working tax credits, child tax credits, child benefit, housing benefit, council tax benefit et al. The profit margin is nil when taking into account overheads but the benefits are enough to live on.

I have no problem giving a couple of pounds and if they get that off every person in the street then it has still only cost me £2, some big issue sellers get a house, and a couple of hundred quid a week on top.

I buy the Big Issue as I quite like to read it.:p I used to work with homeless people but I usually give to registered charities, not to people on the streets. I have done on occasion given money, especially in winter, but the woman I mentioned that I used to see in my town wanted the money for the pub as I saw her in there after she had asked me for money.