Homeless Man in La Forchetta shop front.

TheMimsy

I have emailed Street Link. He has a makeshift bedroom with mattresses and cardboard. Elderly guy with a beard, has a limp.

HolbornFox

Saw him last night, definitely has severe mental health issues, horrible to see.

miss annie

That's a different one then. The man there last weekend had a proper fold up metal bed base with mattress. Not elderly.

grenners

The chap I see clearly has mental health and alcohol issues. He's got long hair. He was begging outside worlds end pub last night for money for food.

HolbornFox

Someone asked me for an oyster card last night, then if i had 76p.

grenners

There are homeless people who are ill and need help. And there are some beggars which I just cannot quite understand. There is a girl with dreads who sits outside the Sainsbury's near to Crisis shop on the floor. She looks perfectly pleasant and healthy if a little thin and pale. I am on the verge of asking her why she is there?

HolbornFox

I don't mind giving people money and i really dont have a problem if they want to buy beer or heroin with it, i would do the same if i was that desperate.

I saw one bloke take about 60 quid in half an hour once in the west end, he had the gift of the gab and could sell so fair play.

miss annie

Some of the beggars in the West End make a lot in an hour than most of the people in SG do. I know the chap who has Bob the Street Cat as he was a daily visitor to the shop I used to work in in Islington. He always a had a pocket full of tenners earned from an afternoon outside Islington Tesco. He'd stand there for a few hours with the cat then inject the takings in the toilets on the Green and drink the rest. Never needed to buy cat food as the various local residents gave him bags full of the stuff.

He had a very pretty housing association flat in Stoke Newington - my colleague had to go there to return the cat when he left him in our shop and forgot about him.

You can find more detailed stories about his life in his book apparently so no need to moan about me spilling the beans, the beans have been publicly out of the can.

I'm not judging, but there are some street people who definitely need help more than others. there is a youngish lady by Pret in the early mornings who looks genuinely in need of medical help and much more. I gave her some clothes in the winter and bought hot snacks but it's pretty clear she could do with professional help.

HolbornFox

I've been on the receiving end of homelessness myself while a teenager and it aint fun, fortunately i was young so got help.

Papa

A guy outside Sainsbury's once asked me if I could buy him a sandwich.
That seemed a pretty fair request, so I asked if there was any particular one and got him a bag of crisps and a beer for good measure.
He seemed pretty pleased with that.

grenners

Some people with clip boards got out of a car branded with a homeless charity logo (name escapes me) this morning and were off to wake up this chap under the Fochetta canopy. So seems there are people trying to help him. Didn't see much else as was rushing past.