Beggars, homeless, street drinkers & drug users in Sheffield!

[paula4sheff 10]

Would there be as many beggars at all hours if accommodation like the Victoria Street flats was located well outside of the City Centre?

 

Amazing as it sounds, people have refused accommodation based on the fact "it's too far for me to go"- it was half an hour on foot from the city centre. Exact quote was "why the hell should I have to walk home. I won't walk anywhere". Followed by abuse.

 

---------- Post added 03-11-2017 at 12:03 ----------

 

Spot on. It's 4 years since I worked in a job which involved working on this issue (appreciate many things have changed in that time) and have three observations:

 

- Organisations are working hard to keep most of these individuals in accommodation and assist them to stabilise their lifestyles - that's pretty hard when they know they can get £100 a day sat on street corner.

 

- The majority of the money given to beggars in Sheffield goes on drink/drugs. Would you knowingly give an addict alcohol/drugs? If you give money to these people without knowing their circumstances you're not actually helping them, you're reinforcing their substance issues and trapping them in addiction.

 

- For those of you who moan about the police doing nothing. Report it, give a statement about how unsafe it made you feel. If plod just lift them for begging they'll be in and out of magistrates court in 5 mins. If plod can demonstrate the anti-social nature of the offence and the impact on the victim, they've got a fighting chance of getting a better outcome at court.

 

I think you'd be surprised how little has changed!

 

It's exactly this. You're facing an impossible task of trying to engage people when they can make £100-200 a day begging.

 

Take The Big Issue. What incentive is there for people to engage with them, go through the meetings and supervision required, be shown how to pay their taxes etc, when they see they can make more sitting and doing nothing and not face their problems?

[ultracynic 10]

Amazing as it sounds, people have refused accommodation based on the fact "it's too far for me to go"- it was half an hour on foot from the city centre. Exact quote was "why the hell should I have to walk home. I won't walk anywhere". Followed by abuse.

 

Too far from Bargain Booze and all the idiots that fund their lifestyle more like.

[sgtkate 10]

Amazing as it sounds, people have refused accommodation based on the fact "it's too far for me to go"- it was half an hour on foot from the city centre. Exact quote was "why the hell should I have to walk home. I won't walk anywhere". Followed by abuse.

 

---------- Post added 03-11-2017 at 12:03 ----------

 

 

I think you'd be surprised how little has changed!

 

It's exactly this. You're facing an impossible task of trying to engage people when they can make £100-200 a day begging.

 

Take The Big Issue. What incentive is there for people to engage with them, go through the meetings and supervision required, be shown how to pay their taxes etc, when they see they can make more sitting and doing nothing and not face their problems?

 

And is why I end up buying multiple copies of the Big Issue and often give the sellers a little extra (I know officially I shouldn't do that but hey-ho). I do not give to anyone begging as nearly everyone who works in that sector of support STRONGLY advises not to as it doesn't help anyone. Supporting the Big Issue supports the ones who are trying to improve their lives through positive change and they should be supported as much as possible if you want the problem to start decreasing rather than just ignoring them.

[kidley 48]

Would there be as many beggars at all hours if accommodation like the Victoria Street flats was located well outside of the City Centre?

 

How far would you travel for an extra £500+ on top of your benefit?

[Eccy Beach 11]

The complexity is entirely man-made. The intellectualization of drug addiction has only made things worse because it frames one of the the most basic evolutionary functions of our brains as something that is immoral or sinful - something that need to be fought off and challenged.

 

Wouldn't disagree with that, but that's 50,000 years of evolution in action. All ears as to what agencies/authorities in Sheffield should be doing about that.

[ukdobby 224]

Went into town today and must say it's not nice,there seemed a lot of working age people not working and bothered with beggars and charity people trying to get money of us,if I want to give to charity I will do,don't need these to persuade me to give.

[edensor 10]

A few weeks ago I realised it was getting out of hand so I decided to keep a score of the number of times I was approached and asked for money on my journey through the city

Whilst walking from the train station to Morrison's in Broomhill on a Sunday lunchtime I was asked for money 37 times

[paula4sheff 10]

A few weeks ago I realised it was getting out of hand so I decided to keep a score of the number of times I was approached and asked for money on my journey through the city

Whilst walking from the train station to Morrison's in Broomhill on a Sunday lunchtime I was asked for money 37 times

 

Wow.

 

Why is there no desire from the Council to do anything about the issue?

 

It's important to remember that begging is illegal. A concerted effort would certainly help significantly reduce the problem, if the law was enforced.

 

Surely it must be impacting on shops/traders? The amount of empty retail properties can't be purely coincidence.....

[donotremove 10]

ENG601PM Teams make it sound like a sport I prefer Gangs and you are correct do not give money to them . If you need to give money do what a couple of post have said give it to a charity what can best distribute it to those need it and not to these scammers it should be an offence to give money to these scammers

 

I'd like to see anybody try and stop me from giving money to anybody I choose to.

 

---------- Post added 03-11-2017 at 18:52 ----------

 

Obviously confidentiality forbids me from going into too much information, but you're right. He's housed, on an income.

 

Please take from someone that works with these sort of people- there are virtually no beggars in Sheffield who are homeless, or in any sort of need, other than to feed their drug habits over and above the benefits they are on.

 

You won't find a single expert, or anyone that works in a similar environment, who will tell you anything other than this.

 

Do you actually have any real evidence to back up these claims you keep making on here or are we just supposed to take your word for it?

[paula4sheff 10]

I'd like to see anybody try and stop me from giving money to anybody I choose to.

 

---------- Post added 03-11-2017 at 18:52 ----------

 

 

Do you actually have any real evidence to back up these claims you keep making on here or are we just supposed to take your word for it?

 

It's an offence to beg, so it shouldn't need to be an offence to give money away. The problem is getting worse, and education of people who give their money to these people should be key. Most people would be horrified at the thought that their money was making these people's lives worse.

[donotremove 10]

It's an offence to beg, so it shouldn't need to be an offence to give money away. The problem is getting worse, and education of people who give their money to these people should be key. Most people would be horrified at the thought that their money was making these people's lives worse.

 

You keep saying these things without providing any evidence to back it up. Rather than expending energy telling people not to give money I would rather that energy spent on actually helping these people.

[paula4sheff 10]

You keep saying these things without providing any evidence to back it up. Rather than expending energy telling people not to give money I would rather that energy spent on actually helping these people.

 

What evidence would you like? There's pages of it. I do expend energy on trying to help them- as do the many people who work with vulnerable people across Sheffield, many of whom are volunteers.

 

Many people over many pages have expressed ways in which they are helping. Again- what evidence would you like, on what subject? The homeless statistics? They are a few pages back.

 

I'm not really sure what you're trying to achieve with this comment. If you're looking for people to tell you that the best thing you can do for beggars is to give them money, then it really isn't going to happen. No one will tell you that, no matter who they work or volunteer for.