On 14 Dec 2017 at 11:21am Homer wrote:
I thought the thread below entitled 'what I saw' was mostly informative and well mannered. It really is helping my understanding of this very difficult issue. Sadly it is now full but I would like to hear from anyone else who has relevant experience rather than just a viewpoint.
On 14 Dec 2017 at 11:46am Billy wrote:
For many years on my commute into work I saw a man at Victoria collecting for a charity that worked with the homeless. As he rattled his tin, his strapline was "Homeless not Helpless". I'm not sure that is so true these days.
On 14 Dec 2017 at 11:48am Working hard wrote:
Work shy drug addicts. Nuff said
On 14 Dec 2017 at 12:29pm Strapline wrote:
The real strapline is that a large % of the cash donated goes in "admin" - these charities spring up like toadstools. You can't trust half of them. The Chuggers who sign you up to a d/d monthly are the worst. There are people making a good living out of "charities" Volunteer run ones get my support. Kind regards.
On 14 Dec 2017 at 9:01pm There but for the grace wrote:
I thought it was a good thread too, minus a few heartless voices. No one without serious problems in their life opts to live on the street. I find it interesting that so many people judge others based on their own experiences. "I managed not to take drugs, I managed work my out of a bad spot, if I can do it, why can't they, etc etc?". It doesn't take into account that not everyone has the same support, the same experience of life or the same mental resilience as you. It's borne of quite a childish inability to empathise. Humanity would be vastly improved if we looked beyond ourselves and lent a helping hand to others. The snide people who question how you can be compassionate yet choose not to invite rough sleepers into your own home are being obtuse. I give money and time to the homeless but it's not practical or necessarily safe to invite a complete stranger into your home, especially if you share that home with others, including children. It doesn't mean you don't or can't care, or that as a society we shouldn't do more to look after those who have fallen on hard times. I'm no bible basher, but surely every tenet on Christianity tells us to give compassion - didn't Jesus care for the poor and befriend lost souls, prostitutes and the like? Imagine what some cynics on this forum would say about that. Perhaps apposite to think on at this time of year.
On 14 Dec 2017 at 9:18pm Sandal wearer wrote:
^^^^and here endeth the sermon
On 14 Dec 2017 at 9:20pm Stanley wrote:
I have been very lucky. I could easily have ended up on the streets if not for family and friends. Some of us are prone to making a lot of mistakes and not all of us become the people we hoped we would.
The addicts and alcoholic's are self medicating their demons. If they had connection they wouldn't need to do this.
It's an epidemic of loneliness and selfishness .
Most of us are so focused on our own struggle to have compassion.
On 14 Dec 2017 at 9:46pm Mrs Davis wrote:
There but for the grace wrote..."I managed work my out of a bad spot", go back to school, and get your head out of your biblical backside.
On 14 Dec 2017 at 9:54pm Mistletoe wrote:
What I find interesting is that the original post has received 25 thumbs down......
Why?!
On 14 Dec 2017 at 9:56pm @Mrs Davis wrote:
I suggest you go back to school if you are unable to read to a basic 11-plus comprehension standard. Like I said in my first post, I am not a bible basher, I am not even religious. I merely pointed out that as everyone celebrates a religious festival it's worth thinking about these things. Funny, I actually liked your posts on the previous thread but I see that you are, sadly, a pedant who can't look beyond a small typo. Time to get a life. I'm guessing you were a teacher in your youth - probably the kind most pupils couldn't stand. Just FYI, very much not a sandal wearer, more of a fancy heels kind of girl. You can't write anything nice on this forum without a bunch of stains on humanity proving how miserable, bored and nasty they are.
On 14 Dec 2017 at 10:11pm @@Mrs davis wrote:
Contribute or pass off. Is that spelt correctly?
On 14 Dec 2017 at 10:38pm Home run wrote:
Big Issue was a great idea, but all great ideas that have a financial gain attract users and abusers, once the Romanian gangs moved in on the Big Issue set up, most of the British homeless Big Issue sellers were moved out. Most of the homeless I met in the Brighton/Lewes area are white British and mainly male, most of the Big Issue sellers I met are not.
On 14 Dec 2017 at 11:04pm No Pot Pourri wrote:
There are several aggressive drug addicts / alcoholics who hang around town begging then jack up in the toilets near Premier Inn. They are, in my opinion, scumbags.
On 15 Dec 2017 at 9:50am Toilet bloc wrote:
a shower bloc is what's needed.
On 15 Dec 2017 at 9:58am Frank Dreben wrote:
Why aren't the police moving therm on? They look disgusting as does there filthy bedding and baggage all over the pavements. It wouldn't be tolerated in Arundel!
On 15 Dec 2017 at 10:15am Andy wrote:
Was in town the other day and a lot of take about the down and out one family was saying that it for we will nether shop her again because of them.
On 15 Dec 2017 at 10:27am Baz wrote:
Htats smoethign else I cnat adibe. Poepel who cnat be bothered to tpye proeprly.
Lzya cnuts.
On 15 Dec 2017 at 11:19am Guy wrote:
Doesn't anyone remember an out-of-towner posting a few months that he tried to use the public toilets and found two of these gentleman OD'd in a cubicle? Could have very easily been a child going to use these toilets.
To all of the bleeding hearts out there, why don't you have these people over to your house for xmas and see what happens...
On 15 Dec 2017 at 1:26pm bored wrote:
@Guy
Us "bleeding hearts" want to see an improvement in social services so fewer people end up OD'd in toilets.
Individuals housing homeless people on ad hoc basis is not a solution as you understand already. See this sort of comment a lot. It's not clever.
On 15 Dec 2017 at 1:29pm Ad Hock wrote:
I'll be on the German white wine this Christmas. Hock Hic.
On 15 Dec 2017 at 2:32pm Ham Hock wrote:
You can nibble on me
On 15 Dec 2017 at 4:22pm Hock in fell wrote:
I'm fell walking over Christmas - starting @ Fulking then off to the pennines.
On 16 Dec 2017 at 10:38am Sensible wrote:
I would support defensive architecture and cleansing policies. Shops like Boots, where hygiene is vital, must aggressively remove rubbish from their pavements and regularly spray down the curtilage with a disinfectant solution, so that belongings illegally left there are reliably damp. The addition of armrests in the middle of benches and seats makes it more comfortable for people, and prevents the homeless from resting on this public furniture. Decorative cones or spikes on privately or publicly owned surfaces such as ledges or window sills where beggars might like to sit also deter bird mess. All these together with a straightforward policy of immediately removing the rubbish associated with the homeless, and thorough enforcement of vagrancy law will clear up Lewes for people to feel safer. The street is neither a living room not a bedroom. Good laws have a purpose.
On 16 Dec 2017 at 2:06pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Until there is a sea change in the provision of services that address problems like addiction and mental illness and support homeless people into housing, all that a more aggressive enforcement of vagrancy laws will achieve is displacement.
The causes of homelessness need to be addressed and more preventative work needs to be done before the sort of measures proposed by sensible are put in place.
On 18 Dec 2017 at 4:41pm Jonny wrote:
@Sensible.
Sensible you are not. Psychopath you are. Please tell me you are self aware enough not to believe in a god?