Do you give to people begging in town ?

No I offer food /drink/clothing. I pay musicians - music in our streets is something I do want to encourage. And yes [grannyactivist] is right. It is horrifyingly easy to become homeless and the world of temporary accommodation is a cruel nightmare. Years ago I worked in a council housing department - it was heartless then (much worse for men as they usually had no children in tow) but over recent years it has gone back to Dickensian.

I occasionally give to someone in the street but mainly if it's a woman. I wonder what sort of horrid life they have led for them to be in that position.
I once gave a woman a £1 coin which I had in my pocket, then I walked about 10 yards on and spotted another £1 coin on the ground which I picked up and put in my pocket! Very spooky I thought.

Not money, no but there's a heartbreakingly young man who I sometimes see begging. He's always clearly drunk or stoned and I buy him a sandwich and a coffee and wait while he eats and drinks. DH thinks I'm soft but my younger son is a recovering alcoholic/cocaine addict (five years clean and sober) and when he came home for a year to detox he told me one night someone once gave him a sandwich when he was at rock bottom and sitting on a park bench crying one evening and it was a turning point for him.

I used to but my hairdresser has lived in our town all her life and knows several people who beg regularly in the town centre but have their own homes and cars. So now I give food, the last time I gave a girl outside Aldi some fruit she was really grateful. I haven't seen anybody selling The Big Issue for a long time, I used to buy it regularly.

No I don't personally but I do volunteer in a local foodbank and have had recipients of the food argue that they only wanted 'well known brands' of food. Not supermarket 'own brands'.
They've then been seen in the town centre selling the food.

I have stopped giving directly to people on the streets now and give to designated charities. Our Big Issue seller began harassing me continually every time I walked past even though I had bought a copy earlier in the week. At first it was a reluctance to give me my change if I gave her a £5 note or asking me not to take the magazine which in the end I didn’t. The last straw was when I was in a food store and she asked me for money even though she herself had bought a basketful of groceries. I really felt quite intimidated and now avoid going to my local town to shop unless it’s a Sunday when I know she won’t be there. This never happened with our previous Big Issue seller, a young man with a dog who was lovely. I often used to stop and chat and he didn’t expect you to buy every time you saw him.

Strangely, I have been talking about this to my daughter this morning. We never give money to beggars. If they would like a sandwich or a cup of coffee, that’s fine because they are more likely to be genuine, but if they only want money it’s either for drink or drugs, or to pay the gang that ‘employs’ them.

No I don't. I used to work in a first floor office that overlooked the local co-op. Every morning at the same time, I watched a guy walk up with a 3 legged dog in a broken baby pushchair and set up his blanket. All day people would leave the shop and hand him change, food, drinks etc. Every time it was quiet he would be sitting chatting away or texting on a mobile phone or lighting up a cigarette.
None of which I begrudged him, but it didn't quite sit right with the fact he was apparently destitute.
One day, my sister called me from an expensive local seaside restaurant.
The same 'homeless' guy was there, dressed up to the nines with his wife and child, eating a slap-up meal I couldn't afford and drinking like he had no care in the world!
While I do really feel for the genuine cases, if they are truly homeless they would appreciate food and drink, not demand cash!

BTW, the notice period via a Section 21 notice is usually 2 months although at present the arrangements are different due to the pandemic. Also, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 places greater responsibilities on local authorities to prevent homelessness and give advice to those threatened with homelessness.
Paperbackwriter, no I don't have people policing my spending, but if you are giving to those who are using drugs then you are assisting someone in criminal behaviour and causing other issues such ASB. Your money is funding organized crime but if you don't care about that fair enough. Perhaps you could just buy them a bag of their drug of choice and hand it to them? I suspect you wouldn't do that ? Most local authorities and the police ask residents not give money but make donations to any local charity that deals direct with beggars /street homeless people. That way you know where the money is spent.
It was flipping hard work and really stressful dealing with homeless people, every single day I did my best, I would do all sorts of things that were really not in my job description, too numerous to mention. It was also extremely frustrating to find that I was attempting to get a vulnerable person back on the straight and narrow, with other professionals from various organizations, we would ask members of the public not to give direct for the reasons I have given, and then we find all of our efforts were for nothing as the customer had managed to go back to using again. I would see the person out on the street begging when I knew they had a roof over their head and an income from the DWP, yes I know that isn't a fortune, but the money made from begging was ruining all of our efforts.
End of rant.

We get a few outside our local Lidl, usually looking well fed with smart rucksacks with well fed dogs. We don't give to these. But someone elderly who is obviously in need then we get sandwiches and water which are usually well received. The French are generally better mannered here than in UK anyway and probably wouldn't be rude if you didn't give them money.

The local supermarkets often have an organisation at the door with a shopping trolley and ask you to pick up non perishable items. This I do as I know it will go to needy families.

Anyone using the term ‘these people’ may need to have a think about who ‘these people’ are . So yes, you may not know if these people are deserving or non deserving so due to this if you have a spare coin or two then give it, as if you won’t miss it what harm can it do ? Also try not to generalise, it’s not helpful.

No. A drink or sandwich is kindest. If someone is ill - addicted to alcohol or drugs - they will prefer to spend money on alcohol or drugs, and not eat. If you have ever known an addict you will know that person is very needy - it is not a lifestyle choice.

I used to travel to London on business and regularly gave to people outside the railway stations at both ends of my journey. One day (on a tube in London) I saw a girl I had given to several times, in clean (fairly expensive looking) clothes and with a child!
After that, I would only offer food - which was often declined!

No - I will offer to buy a hot/cold drink but that is it. I offered to buy a cold drink one hot day and the guy said `I would rather have a tenner`. It made me smile he was so cheeky.

No.

I have given money, food and drink plus blankets. B4 lockdown I was on a bug going along a large shopping street area, saw this guy sitting on pavement, he had no shoes on. On my return I broke my journey, got off bus, crossed road asked this guy what size shoes he wore, I then went into nearby charity shop. I asked about men's shoes size 8, the manager said 'they're not for the guy outside are they?. I said yes. He said 'save yr money ?, if people give him anything other than money he puts it all in the bin, he is sitting on his ? shoes and when he is ready he puts them on and goes home.'
These people spoil it for others.

Sitting on a BUS not bug

I have been known to in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. When I visited my London based son, we were walking together through the streets of south east London. People asking for cash but he was keen for me to walk on by. He indicated that he supports a few charities each month (very lucky to be on a high salary). Possibly this might be the way to go.

Yes I give when I can. Some people are not able to cope with the conditions and gauntlet they need to pass with services provided. That's why some churches go onto the streets with soup etc. There are no conditions when I give. Whatever makes there life a bit more tolerable is okay with me.

No, I'll buy dog food, or a drink etc, but won't give money. Sadly having worked in prisons, I am aware that a great deal of donations go to drugs and alcohol so refuse to give cash x

There was a young woman standing begging in very cold weather when I last went shopping with my daughter some time before Covid in a nearby small town, not something you usually see. I put a pound coin in her collection cup, and she said thank you nicely, certainly didn’t throw it back at me, how rude was that, Urmstongran, she had no idea if you were giving your last sou. Anyway, I noticed that our girl’s hands were blue with cold, so I went into a little shop and bought her a nice pair of woollen gloves, that I would have happily worn myself, though my daughter said I was being foolish. Went back and gave them to her, she tried to refuse them but eventually took them after much pointing at hands, she didn’t speak English. The label was still on, it was clear I’d just bought them. We went on shopping, and passed her again on the way back, she wasn’t wearing the gloves.
Reading the earlier comments, maybe I was being patronising and should have given her the money instead, to buy what she wanted not what I thought she needed. Why didn’t she wear them - was it because she thought donations would be better if her hands were blue with cold? Or did someone controlling her think that? Or did she just not like them or maybe was allergic to wool? I have wondered why when I have passed the spot where she was standing, but she hasn’t been there again.

Sadly no ...I do feel really sorry for all homeless and some in the City centre are so polite and even say Have a good day when you walk past without giving .....BUT to solve my conscience I DO give to the homeless charities, and the Salvation Army which eases my mind as they will distribute what is necessary and help where they can. Someone once said to me 'You'd take them all home with you if you could' ...ha ha, maybe not but WHEN (!!!) I win the lottery I would love to fund some kind of housing ...even though it wouldn't help many. I think it is appalling when even former members of UK military forces are consigned to the street ..... if you look at photos of Britain in the Victoria era there were always homeless people ...why, in all these intervening years do we see more and more ...........admittedly conditions in the workhouses were awful and sometimes men even resorted to sleeping 'over a string'...i.e.. sleeping hanging over a taught line ......so desperate. In the 21st century when we are sending money to other countries, rockets to the moon (though this is privately funded !) not one politician mentioned how to eradicate poverty, homelessnes, or even elderly care, in their manifesto .............appalling

I only give to buskers and big issue sellers, especiallly after an incident that I witnessed when visited York some years ago, I was sheltering in a doorway from the rain, waiting for my daughter, there was a young girl stood a few doorways down from me and she was begging, as I watched a smartly dressed woman approached her, there was a brief conversation and the young girl passed all her donations (takings) to her. I realised then that this was an organised scam, which is a crime.

In our town we are advised by our council not to give money to individuals on the street. Instead we have a really good local charity that provides safe accommodation, food, clothing etc for those in real need. It is easy to donate to the charity - either money or practical things such as toiletries, clothing etc.

We have seen several times that at the end of a day, so called homeless beggers go to their car and drive home!

I give food, not money