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

The man gave the money to the cafe, not the homeless person. If he wanted him to have autonomy to buy hygiene products from Lidl then he would ahev given it to the homeless man directly.

I'd just rather buy food for them if that's what they want or give them the money and not judge. I don't GAF if they spend it getting pissed or high, whatever gets them through the day.

I doubt it. Street homelessness in the UK is not because people are houseless. They are overwhelmingly addicts. It is a complex issue and they can be very difficult to help them due to this complexity, but I very much doubt that he was planning on spending that money on soap and a meal deal.

The cafe did the right thing legally and morally. If the donor wanted the homeless man to have cash, he would have given him cash.

And I actually think it’s very good of the staff to continue to deal with someone who can turn aggressive towards them and have to be escorted out. It can’t be good for their business - £20 every few days or however frequently vs having someone kicking off in the cafe in front of patrons doesn’t seem like a good deal in their favour. It seems like they’re doing the best to do right by him.

It's obvious the cafe didn't plan on taking the change for themselves they told him it's for food he can order again tomorrow with the change. They said 'you know this' so obviously the money is only to be spent on food otherwise the man who gave the money would have just given it to the homeless man.
Why is this such an issue

If the same man comes in and gives the cafe staff money for the man outside's food regularly, so that the man who orders food knows the arrangements and so do the café staff, it's very probable that the man paying is a relative of the man he's feeding and knows his history. The money belongs to the man who put it aside to be used for the man who sits outside's meals. If he wanted to give cash directly he would, but instead he sets it aside in the café.

Actually it's incredibly understanding and accommodating of the café and staff to facilitate this, as minimum wage ataff aren't trained or employed to manage this kind of challenging behaviour, which is also likely to be intimidating to some customers and put them off returning.

But you weren’t the donor. You didn’t give him anything, but somehow have an opinion on how someone who actually has donated money should have stipulated its use. If the man wanted the money to go directly to the homeless man, he would have given it to him. If you want to donate money to him under your own conditions, go ahead. Do you routinely give £20 to homeless people?

This.
The donor probably gave the cafe staff explicit instructions about how the money was to be used.

How much money did you give the homeless man?

I have always stopped to help homeless people in distress and I often ask if they want food or drink (not alcohol). Very few of them do but they always want money. I won't have my money spent on drugs and drink no matter what the cause of their addiction. It doesnt stop me helping them, but it takes the piss if people think I go to work to pay to feed someone's destructive habit. This man was out of order taking advantage of the benefactor and the cafes kindness. If I was the owner he'd be banned.

I dare say he’d have spent it on booze or dope, but I don’t suppose he enjoys many other pleasures.

I remember once reading about the homeless man who was sitting outside a police station on Christmas Day. They took him out an entire Christmas Dinner on a tray, plus a packet of fags. It’d be all too easy for the piously virtuous to say, no they certainly wouldn’t be giving him anything so unhealthy.

There but for the grace of God, and all that…

You sound a bit naive OP.

The man could have given the money directly to the homeless man but didn’t. The cafe staff said he knew the money was to be used on food there, so the homeless man knew the situation to start with.

if this homeless man wasn’t on drugs or drink, he would be the exception not the rule. It’s a fair assumption to make.

Did you give him any money?

Op you are crying out saying we are making assumptions

yet there YOU are assuming he’s homeless! He might be living at an Ap in which case there will be conditions to be met. Any alcohol/drug use is likely to get him in further trouble. And if he’s on any kind of substance programme it could actually kill him

do you know this? Are you aware? Street savvy? No. No you aren’t

The money was given to the Cafe to pay for meals. The change did not belong to the homeless man.

But if the donor really wanted him to have the money he would have just given the man the £20 note.

But your not the donor and the actual donor didn't want him to have the change ,if you wanted him to have change you could have given him some of your change.

So why don't you donate yourself then and tell the cafe he is to get the change from what you donate once he has had a meal?
You weren't the donor and the person that was obviously thinks differently about ut than you do. To be honest most people can see why giving hom moneybisnt a good idea. Homeless charities actively discourage the giving of cash direct.

The donator clearly wanted the cafe to provide the man with £20 worth of food and drink.

The cafe accepted the £20 to feed and water the man. It needs to be looked at like a voucher for food and drink not cash. It has zero cash value to the man. It’s credit for food and drink.

The man will have had his reasons and the cafe have an agreement with the man. It may even be a family member of the homeless person who comes in one or twice a week and tips up his account.

It was not the man's money. It was the cafes money, to buy him food. There's a difference.

If you live in an area with a high level of homelessness then you wouldn't be asking this question.

Sadly it's a common occurrence. In some cases its the addictions that that have contributed to the homelessness and in other cases its the reverse. But the two can often go hand in hand.

I feel sorry for the cafe workers in this situation.
Really rude of the homeless man to kick off like that. The deal had obviously been explained to him previously. They are damned if they try to help and damned if they don't

The donor has explained to the cafe how he wants the money he has given them to be spent and they have agreed.

Who is to say what the ‘right’ thing to do in regards to giving help to homeless people is. Sadly, giving cash IS likely to be spent on drink or drugs (wouldn’t you want to block out life for a while if you lived on the streets). But maybe you should give it anyway as it removes the temptation to do something desperate such as theft. Or maybe just making sure they have got something to eat is good. I prefer to give to a local charity actively working to help homeless people get off the street. Some people give nothing - each way is a judgement call.