Lady begging on the tube

[UsedtobeFeckless]

Please all tell me in shouty capitals how it's a big wrong thing to give to beggers because l'm feeling bad about this.
Sitting on the tube and a lady comes along the carriage asking very quietly and politely for money. Everyone put their heads down and ignored her. I did too. If anyone else had put their hand in their pocket l would have done too but no-one did so l just sat there and l've been beating myself up for it ever since.
What would you have done?

It’s front page of my local newspaper this week saying to not give to the homeless, give to a charity instead.

Ignore, ignore, ignore. She's either a scam artist or a drug addict. Big fat NOPE.

Don’t give money if you don’t want to but to ignore her completely is non human,

WTF is 'non human'?

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-human

Well that hardly applies to people ignoring professional beggars, does it

I don’t because I prefer to give to charities. I might get someone a tea or coffee.

I don’t live in London, but have in the past and I know that awkward moment of everyone looking down when someone is walking through the carriage.
Two sides presented in this - British Transport Police and a man who was homeless. It is from a year ago but probably still views of police

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-underground-tube-beggars-homeless-people-announcement-a8214601.html

Give to charities - there are plenty around.

Give money to those on the street and you may very well be fuelling addiction or crime.

It also encourages the fake beggars and their ‘minders’ into areas and you will sometimes see small kids who should be in school dragged around the streets to pull at the heartstrings (or worse). Sometimes you will see the same kid with different ‘mums’ working their pitches.

You can sometimes tell a ‘genuine’ rough sleeper - and you don’t know their back story.

Give to shelters or outreach charities. Buy someone a cup of tea and a sandwich, or bottles of juice/milk to keep them hydrated. If you see someone ‘camped out’ contact a local charity who will visit them and see if they can help.

In that case there was a whole carriage full of non-humans ... Everyone was studiously looking elsewhere.

The worst I encountered were on the central London tube, carrying babies who were always asleep, turned out later in the media they were being drugged and passed around.

i do give to beggars when I can but did I fuck give those ones any money.

That's rather my point. I usually do but everyone else was so pointedly ignoring her l sort of froze.

I pay enough tax to support people by way of health care and benefits so no I won’t hand over cash. I can’t afford a drug habit for myself much less anyone else. If it’s cold I’ll offer to get them tea or a sandwich but most of the time they just want cash

I would have given something, probably not a huge amount. I would rather make a mistake by giving a con artist a couple of quid than make a mistake ignoring someone in desperate need. But if I see people in the street and I'm near a food outlet I usually get them a burger and /or hot drink if they look hungry, rather than cash.

I don't give money to beggars. I think it generally doesn't help.

I do buy them food/drink sometimes and regularly give to food banks.

No don’t ignore again. That’s just dickish. A simple ‘not today sorry’ or ‘haven’t got any change luv’ will suffice.

Pinkbells, I proffered an untouched Mac D's before, thinking the same, but was rejected with a look of disdain, different type of beggar in Islington maybe 🤷🏻‍♀️ ...

Nor do l! That's why l posted!

That’s just dickish.

It's dickish to be a pro beggar. I am astounded that anyone could suggest people should be nice to these scummy people.

I never give to beggars, there are plenty of food banks in my area. The beggars I see are most definitely professional beggars. Homeless people seldom beg unless they are drug dependent. We have one outside a Sainsbury's local ,who never comes out when it's very cold. He makes an absolute fortune, and lives in a very nice house near me.

I encountered a beggar on the tube a couple of weeks back (I’m a country girl and not often in the city). He had an obviously brand new single duvet over his shoulder which swished over everyone’s knees as he went down the carriage. Now you’ve got me wondering if he was a professional beggar as the duvet was clearly unused. Also struck me as strange (and maybe I’m being thick here) as to why someone would beg on the tube, surely being on the tube costs money?

Professional beggars and often managed through organised gangs via modern slavery.

If you want to help volunteer and donate to verified charities.

It's dickish to be a pro beggar. I am astounded that anyone could suggest people should be nice to these scummy people.

Yes, funnily enough my local police Tweeted a story only this morning about a professional beggar who was caught with over £200 on them.

This time they actually got a successful prosecution but it took them years, although part of it included benefit fraud and drugging a baby they claimed to be theirs, although it turned out the poor little thing had been passed around many other beggars like a 'tool'.

Captive audience Islands.

I was approached by a beggar on my train home from London to the provinces late last night. I politely told him I had no cash. I don't like to give to individual beggars as a rule for all the reasons given above. I do actually work for a charity that provides help and advice including food bank vouchers and housing / homelessness info. I know how difficult it is at the moment - this country is at a crisis point for people reliant on benefits, mental health and drug support etc. So I advise people to support charities and put pressure on the government to look at the policies that are making the problems worse cough Universal cough Credit.