CHARITIES working with people struggling with drug and alcohol problems are backing a campaign urging city centre visitors not to give money to beggars.
Giving to someone who is begging will do nothing to help them move off the streets or improve their quality of life
Organisations such as the city centre based Booth Centre, which helps people move off the streets, build up their skills and deal with problems such as substance abuse issues, say money given to beggars is used to fund drug and alcohol habits, stopping them breaking free from addiction and moving on with their lives.
Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Police are now putting up posters across the city centre with the message ‘don’t fund the habit, fund the charities’ as part of a campaign backed by organisations such as the Booth Centre.
Meanwhile, information is also being given to city centre businesses telling staff what they can do to report aggressive beggars as well as what to do to provide assistance for rough sleepers.
Charities working with people with substance abuse problems – as well as others who are struggling to feed their families in the economic downturn – have reported that they are in urgent need of funding and say money would be much better spent going to them rather than to beggars.
Amanda Croome from the Booth Centre said: "We would encourage members of the public not to give money to people begging because it will usually be used to feed people's drug and alcohol addictions and just traps them in a routine of begging which is very difficult to get out of.
"Begging is a humiliating activity which destroys people's self-esteem and often leads them to give up trying to make a better life for themselves. Giving to someone who is begging will do nothing to help them move off the streets or improve their quality of life."
Cllr Bernard Priest, Manchester City Council’s executive member for neighbourhood services, said: "Manchester residents, as well as people who visit the city centre, are often very eager to help those they see as being less fortunate than themselves.
"While this is very laudable, sadly many of the charities we work with tell us that if you give money to a beggar, it will only go towards a drug or alcohol habit, and that cash would be much better spent on one of the many Greater Manchester charities which do excellent work helping people who are struggling with addiction or other problems.”
Chief Inspector Gareth Parkin for Greater Manchester Police's North Manchester Division, said: "Members of the public have told us that they feel intimidated in the city centre when faced by aggressive begging. There are clear differences between those that aggressively beg and harass the public and those that do not.
"Our officers will patrol those hotspot areas frequented by persistent offenders and will take a zero tolerance approach to begging, in particular aggressive begging. They will also be talking to vulnerable people and alert them to the various services that are available to them.
"I would urge shoppers not to give money to beggars as it fuels the problem, but instead perhaps donate some cash or loose change to a homeless charity.”
The City Council is supporting the No Second Night Out initiative, operated across Greater Manchester by Riverside ECHG, in which members of the public are being urged to phone 0345 112 8128 if they see someone sleeping rough. For more information visit: www.riverside.org.uk/nsnogm.
Sleeping Rough in Manchester
