On 21 Feb 2018 at 7:10pm Mrs wonder wrote:
What’s everybody’s opinion and are they really homeless or just professional beggars?!
On 21 Feb 2018 at 7:19pm Dixie Normus wrote:
a mixture of both. Some are homeless a few aren't.
On 21 Feb 2018 at 7:22pm Earl of Lewess wrote:
Why does it have to be one or the other? Surely people are there for all sorts of reasons. All I know is that it would take a lot for me to suffer the discomfort and humiliation of begging on a street in winter, even if I was a 'professional' beggar. We need to offer people viable alternatives before we start clearing the streets.
On 21 Feb 2018 at 8:06pm reality king wrote:
most are junkies with places to go but choose to sit on ground hoping to get some cash to buy a fix.
They could be in their warm tax payers flat sorting themselves out but then they would have to quit the smack.
They could be door knocking offering to help out the community with odd jobs in exchange for food and money. But instead they just sit and fester hoping passers by will give them pennies so they can jack up and leave there needles for a child to be harmed by then they will leave their crap around the town stinking up the place.
as they rot away they drag their community and environment with them.
On 21 Feb 2018 at 8:25pm At least three weeks wrote:
Since you last posted this.
On 21 Feb 2018 at 8:30pm Archie wrote:
Reality King - I'm glad you have a roof over your head and equally glad it's not next to mine.
On 21 Feb 2018 at 8:46pm reality king wrote:
Some of these people have a roof too, but they choose self destruction and turn their backs on help.
I do help many people. But i only help those who are willing to help themselves. I will not help someone to destroy themselves and have a negative effect on others.
How do you know I am not next to you @Archie
On 21 Feb 2018 at 9:26pm jo hart wrote:
they piss me right off i have lived in lewes for 50 plus years and i know some of the face not by name. they are no hopers piss head . drug taking scum bags . if you give money to them you are helping the drug dealers .
On 21 Feb 2018 at 10:58pm Paul T wrote:
Jo - you're full of hatred and need help.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 7:10am Bill wrote:
One of the guys (green parka, cider and carries a portable radio) now seems to spend a lot of time in Brighton. Another one, who used to sit on station bench seems to spend days in Seaford recently. Not sure of the relevance - just an observation really.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 7:19am Popeye wrote:
@realityking
In what way do they have a negative effect on others?
On 22 Feb 2018 at 7:53am jo hart wrote:
i like the piont that one of them said a few weeks ago .lady should out to them get a blobdy job. ONe them . come back with we have a job we are beggers . that sums it up . they all have phone to call the drug dealer and change shift .
On 22 Feb 2018 at 8:09am jo hart wrote:
begging is illegal under 1824 act
On 22 Feb 2018 at 9:29am The Greek wrote:
This thread makes me despair for humanity.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 9:58am blobdy hell wrote:
Jo hart's spelling makes me despair.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 10:09am Bob wrote:
The one with the radio isn't poor, he has money and goes on holiday.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 11:27am Rory wrote:
It's interesting to me how sympathy for homeless seems to increase with educational and financial status. I conclude that sympathy for the homeless may be a 'positional good' . Those who know the world of the street seem to ascribe far more agency to individuals than those who view them as place holders in a political battlefield.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 11:58am Clifford wrote:
Or, Rory, it could be that people at the bottom of the pile are always looking for someone worse off to piss on.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 12:11pm Gus wrote:
I have sympathy for the homeless. I do not have sympathy for druggies who would rather beg for their fix than work, and who clutter up the streets with their filthy bedding. Especially those who have somewhere to live, but who bring out this bedding to make a point.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 12:14pm Country Life wrote:
We keep on debating about it but nobody does anything (me included). I don't think it's safe to have hard drugs used in the Lewes precinct and I never give these people money, however I do give them the odd sandwich or coffee.
I spend most weekends in there at some point and you can really spot which are the homeless, the career beggars, the alcoholics and the desperate hard drug users.
I have to say I find the wino with the radio a flipping nuisance and I would say to look at him, he's not a druggie. Lots of people struggle with alcohol but maintain their lives and relationships but my opinion is that this guy has just given up and chosen to live like he does.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 12:27pm Radiohead wrote:
They may go to Seaford because they use the train and the Lewes station bench has gone . I'll tell you where they aren't - it's where Deja Vu had the good sense to move to. 
On 22 Feb 2018 at 12:32pm Bill wrote:
@Country Life. Tell me, why is the "wino with the radio" a nuisance?
On 22 Feb 2018 at 12:48pm Cotton band show wrote:
Would be OK if he listened to Radio 4
On 22 Feb 2018 at 1:17pm Country Life wrote:
@Bill, I have seen him on a number of occasions trying to verbal approach people inappropriately (usually outside the station), including schoolgirls and actually me where he asked me for a cigarette and then became abusive when I refused him. Seen it with my own eyes Bill.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 1:35pm Bill wrote:
@Country Life. If that is your experience then so be it. I have always found that he very much keeps himself to himself.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 1:49pm Country Life wrote:
Yes Bill I don't mind about me, I am big and ugly enough to deal with it, but I don't think it's appropriate to approach schoolchildren with a large, half-drunk 2 litre bottle of cider in your hands?
On 22 Feb 2018 at 2:33pm The Greek wrote:
Has anyone actually stopped to ask any of their situations? Before judging on the forum?
It amazes me how people criticise drug users. It's not like you reach for the smack if your life is going well. How many of you enjoy a pint on a Friday or a cigarette? People who work full time and have good lives need a release. You can hardly blame the buggers for looking for a release when living on the street!
To the ones who exploit the charity of Lewesians when they are not in genuine need, shame on them, but don't let that make you tar them all with the same brush.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 3:12pm The Etruscan wrote:
@ The Greek: isn't it a possibility that their lives are not going well BECAUSE they reached for the smack in the first place?
On 22 Feb 2018 at 3:39pm The Greek wrote:
Indeed, but how many people do you know who reach for the smack when everything is going well/they are in sane mind?
Judging and criticising isn't going to solve the problem. Investment in housing, employment, mental health care and drug rehabilitation is.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 3:42pm Blatant Liar wrote:
@Etruscan, why even bother making that point, how is it relevant, they are self destructing either way...?
@The greek, I haven't stopped to ask them their situation, they also didn't bother asking me my situation before they stopped me to beg money.
Doing drugs is a choice, "their situation" is they choose to do drugs rather than anything useful. No matter how you sugar coat it, it is that simple, help is available.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 4:14pm The Greek wrote:
The help is not as available as it once was. Nor can you make someone accept that help unfortunately. We need to address the wider social issues and inequalities that cause people to be in this situation in the first place. It's a difficult issue but tarring everyone with the same brush and writing them off from society will not solve it.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 4:42pm Hamid Barr wrote:
I see one of the homeless every morning poor bloke. On my way to from Leicester Road stores often spot him leaving his flat for a good days poncing
On 22 Feb 2018 at 5:03pm Blatant Liar wrote:
@The Greek, "Nor can you make someone accept that help unfortunately. We need to address the wider social issues and inequalities that cause people to be in this situation in the first place".
Utter madness, no we don't need to address homelessness by addressing social issues as a whole (walnut + sledgehammer?), it is addressed on a case by case basis (you are the one pointing out every case cannot be tarred with the same brush after all...).
Anyone who refuses help (with strings attached like GET CLEAN) has made their own bed, sadly help is a limited resource, why should it be otherwise?
People attitudes might be a little different if it was just the homeless out begging, but it isn't, the majority are professional/semi professional and some even commute into Lewes.
Maybe the police and council would like to explain how the same beggars are in the same places every single day of the week and yet nothing has been done?
Why are they not pursuing the wasters from Landport, they clearly have a second income.
On 22 Feb 2018 at 5:08pm Bob wrote:
@The Greek. There is plenty of employment. Currently there are sone 750,000 vacancies in the UK.
Secondly, few of those on the streets are there because of a housing shortage.
Many don't actually want or can't cope living in there own home.
Many have a family but have become estranged.