Do you give to beggars?

[DaveShoelace]

And what is your reason for doing so/not doing so?

I used to have one stance on the topic, now I'm quite conflicted about it.

[bobAlike]

How much do you want?

[Marky147]

Given a few in Vegas some food, and others a few bucks.

Used to chuck the Big Issue sellers in town a fiver when I saw them.

[TightEnd]

I don't in large part because i don't know if the individuals are genuine or not. seen  a lot of scam artists posing as such over the years

as i have got older my view on this has weakened and i feel guiltier for not doing so

[mondatoo]

If someone's willing to sit on the floor in the freezing cold to scam me out of a quid they are welcome to it.

[Eso Kral]

I never used to give money as always felt that it was going to be used on alcohol so instead would go and buy them some food and or a takeaway meal.

Definitely believe there are more scammers these days though and the other day was walking back from the school run and pointed out a guy I saw 2 days earlier in Southend town who looked disheveled that day but this day he was strolling to his pitch in Leigh on sea with washed hair looking smart with new trainers on and sat down covering his shoes with a neatly rolled sleeping bag and put his cup down.

Petra commented that he looked like he had just come straight from home which he probably had!

I would still today buy some food and a hot drink though for people who look genuinely down on their luck.

[GreekStein]

Used to almost never do it.

My mindset was 'they'll only spend it on drink or drugs'.

Nowadays I'd much rather buy them something myself, be it a sandwich or a burger etc.

When I'm in Thailand I always give money to people I can tell are genuine.

The one I used to be a bit torn over was when I was out at night and kids would come round selling flowers. I would be in a complex of bars and no kid should have been out at night at that time in such a place imo. I didn't like the fact their parents are ferrying them round from bar to bar but still found myself sometimes handing money to the polite ones. I then decided it's much better to buy the kid a cola or a lollypop rather than give money which would go to parents probably too lazy to work themselves.

[celtic]

I never used to give money as always felt that it was going to be used on alcohol so instead would go and buy them some food and or a takeaway meal.

Definitely believe there are more scammers these days though and the other day was walking back from the school run and pointed out a guy I saw 2 days earlier in Southend town who looked disheveled that day but this day he was strolling to his pitch in Leigh on sea with washed hair looking smart with new trainers on and sat down covering his shoes with a neatly rolled sleeping bag and put his cup down.

Petra commented that he looked like he had just come straight from home which he probably had!

I would still today buy some food and a hot drink though for people who look genuinely down on their luck.

Cheers mate. Will make the effort to see you in Edinburgh next week now I've read that last paragraph 👍

[mondatoo]

I'm interested in this theme of "I don't want them to spend the money on x,y or z"

I mean your not giving the money to a child, there circumstances have meant they now have to live on the streets, ofc it's better that you choose to buy something for them rather than not give but personally I decide how much I can spare to give them and then, considering how down on there luck they are, they can go spend my money on whatever they like. I'd really prefer it not to be going towards there next hit but since the amount I give them sadly isn't going to change there situation I'll leave that decision to them.

Also think people should maybe reconsider there approach of seeing someone is homeless on the street and automatically assuming they probably have a drink or drugs problem, tons of different reasons how someone could end up on the streets.

[Eso Kral]

I never used to give money as always felt that it was going to be used on alcohol so instead would go and buy them some food and or a takeaway meal.

Definitely believe there are more scammers these days though and the other day was walking back from the school run and pointed out a guy I saw 2 days earlier in Southend town who looked disheveled that day but this day he was strolling to his pitch in Leigh on sea with washed hair looking smart with new trainers on and sat down covering his shoes with a neatly rolled sleeping bag and put his cup down.

Petra commented that he looked like he had just come straight from home which he probably had!

I would still today buy some food and a hot drink though for people who look genuinely down on their luck.

Cheers mate. Will make the effort to see you in Edinburgh next week now I've read that last paragraph 👍

6 bet jamming 82ss doesnt make you genuinely down on your luck.

I assume you have starved the family in readiness for my most -EV trip of the year?

[teddybloat]

Used to almost never do it.

My mindset was 'they'll only spend it on drink or drugs'.

a mate said this to me on a night out after i gave some money to a tracksuited-up lad asking for spare change in liverpool.

we were on our way to house-music night with enough class A drugs in our pockets to keep pete doherty happy for a weekend.

oh, the ironing...

[RED-DOG]

I sometimes give a couple of quid to what I think are genuine cases, but only if they look old and feeble.

I usually offer the young ones a tenner for an hours gardening work. I've never been taken up on it yet.

[the sicilian]

Never give to people who just come up to you.. been approached several times in the last couple of months.. and am amazed at how smartly dressed and polite they are..

give to various charities on a regular basis.. ( but enough about Celtic ) but very very rarely to street dwellers

[muckthenuts]

Having worked with homeless people for about a year now i can confidently tell you that giving money to a beggar is often the worst thing you can do.

Definitely give them food, water, and if you've got a bit of time see if they're aware of where the nearest provisions for help are. I know in London every borough has somewhere people can go and get support but not sure about elsewhere.

But if you hand them money you could be handing them whatever is was that caused their life to spiral out of control in the first place. Addiction afflicts the majority of prolonged homelessness cases, and the easier they find it to get their hit the less likely they are to seek assistance from legitimate sources that will require them to be drug free in order to co-operate. You are quite likely to be helping kill someone in truth.

[Karabiner]

I only usually give money to buskers.