To think the cafe staff should have given the money to this homeless man?

Yabu. If the man had wanted to give the man the whole £20 to spend money in lidl or whatever, he would have just given the homeless man the £20 cash.

The way the man gave the cafe the £20 sounds like an arrangement...the homeless man gets to have a meal in the cafe and the cafe benefits from the money being spent there over however many meals the man wants

The original man gave the cafe the £20, not the homeless man therefore it was up to them how they "spend " it as long as the man gets the meal

No one can say for sure that he would have spent it on drink or drugs, although it's likely. What you seem to be ignoring is all the people who are pointing out to you that it was up to the man who donated the money (who I suspect is a relative of the homeless man) what he wants to do with his £20. He has agreed with the cafe to set up a tab with them that the homeless man can use for food and drink. It would be wrong of them to give the homeless man the change as it's not his change, it's money on a tab for a specific purpose. How much money did you donate to him?

So, how much did you donate to him to get his Lidl essentials?

You still refusing to answer the question. Did you give the man any money to buy his purchases from a supermarket?

It's really irrelevant what he would have spent the money on anyway. Whether toothbrushes or heroin, it was not his change to demand.

It wasn’t his money- it’s now the cafe’s. Somebody has very kindly put money behind the counter for food/drink whatever for him so that he can get something to eat & drink, but it’s not his money. If that person wanted him to have the money then he would have handed the £20 note directly to the man, not to the cafe.

YABU it was never his money. They clearly know this man, as does the donor. The cafe sound amazing for dealing with this, especially when he kicks off.

You're being naive OP. Countless homeless charities recommend against giving cash for a variety of extremely good reasons. The general consensus is to either use the StreetLink alert and/or to "pay forward". In other words do exactly what this bloke did and pay a cafe or whatever to give the homeless person a meal. The change didn't "belong" to the homeless man. The money was intended to buy food/a hot drink and the staff said he could have the remaining £7 worth tomorrow. Homeless people often have a range of mental health issues, trauma, addictions and anti social behaviours and there are safety aspects to consider when engaging with them. It's actually very good of the cafe to come to this arrangement. There are many establishments that would refuse point blank for this very reason. I think you'll find the donor and the cafe staff are better informed of the situation than you are.

Sorry OP. You are being naive. Having volunteered for a homeless charity in the past and seeing what goes on. The cafe did the right thing!
He was clearly known to them from what you have written.
They offered him more food you said with the change which he could use the same or later date.

Of course most are addicts, how else can they deal with their situation? That doesn’t mean we should strip them of dignity and autonomy.

If it’s a known agreement between the donator and the cafe to feed the homeless man then the staff acted correctly. As they said he can come back tomorrow for some more food

The man should have bought the food for the homeless person himself. It’s unreasonable for him to expect cafe staff to put up with a violent homeless person with a volatile personality. There’s a reason he doesn't have money of his own.

From what you have written this is a regular occurrence so I'm willing to bet the cafe worker and the donor have an agreement (which is probably what the note was all about) and know more about this situation than you, so perhaps mind your business? Perhaps a relative making sure he eats but doesn't waste on things he does need (I won't dare mention alcohol or drugs because you're getting your knickers in twist about that). You're clearly trying to make it sound like the cafe was stealing money from a homeless bloke.

Did you offer the chap any money by any chance?

Isnt this blindingly obvious?!? Like 3 year old comprehension kind of levels.
the man had £20. It is him who decides what to do with his £20. The fact that he gave it to the cafe rather than the man himself is because it was food for the homeless man. If he’s wanted to give £20 to the man so he could buy what he wished with it, he would have done that. But he didn’t.

You are very naive OP.

I have worked with homeless people. If this generous man has clearly made this arrangement before he probably knows more about the man than you.

And staff at work started supporting some homeless people who were begging by our tube station. Before long we had human shit and drug paraphernalia in our entrance every morning. Staff called the local homeless team who came and said they knew the couple, that they had a hostel room and a key worker over the other side of London but were in our area because that is where their dealer was. And they preferred to sleep in our doorway close to their drug supply.

There are restaurants here who accept money like that. Here, the money is specifically for meals. So the money doesn't belong to the person that comes in and has the meal, the leftover goes into the account in case someone else comes in and needs a meal. So if the meal cost $10 and somebody had donated $20 that's two meals for two people. Presumably if the man had wanted him to have the money he would have just given him the money right?

But you're not. So it doesn't matter what you would've done.

You have full autonomy over your own charitable decisions and every right to go and give £7, £20 or any other sum of your money to a homeless person to spend as they see fit.

No he shouldn't be given the money.

You can't ask for charity from people, who set down terms, and then override that.

I say this as someone who has been both living on the streets homeless, and in a refuge homeless and relied heavily on people's generosity and charity.

Some people aren't comfortable with their money potentially being spent on drugs or alcohol, and that's absolutely fine. There are charities that I have stopped giving to because I don't agree with how the money is being spent as well.

Personally I will give homeless people cash, if they choose to spend it on something to take the sting out of sleeping rough for a few hours them that's between them and whichever deity they believe in, I know others who absolutely will not give cash at all, and that's their choice.

You just saw a snapshot of a situation today.

I'm sure the donor and the cafe have a mutual agreement of how the money is to be used

If I’d been a customer at that cafe today, I’d have been left with a very positive impression at the compassion, generosity, tolerance, warmth and understanding the man had received from the staff and donor.

He was served just like any other customer. Treated respectfully. And expected to behave like any other customer.

The donor could have been the man's brother, who goes there every day to make sure his brother has enough to eat no matter what else is going on.

The donor has made a choice not to give the cash to the man. It's not the homeless man's money - it's a tab at the cafe. Maybe he did want to go to Lidl, but Lidl won't accept my Amazon vouchers the same way they won't accept credit from a random cafe as payment.

It was not the homeless man's cash to demand. It was either the donor's or the cafe's.

even Shelter advise not to give cash to the homeless

Right ,but that's not what the DONOR wanted.

The donor had essentially set up a tab for him. He still has credit.
Had the donor wanted him to have cash he would have given the cash direct to the man.

If you felt so strongly about it you could have given him your own money to spend on drugs rather than commenting on how to spend someone else’s contribution.