Author Topic: Beggar in Stratford today.  (Read 11746 times)

Bee

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #30 on: Nov 27, 2019, 10:42:35 PM »
Some of the street homeless are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol.  Some have mental health issues or learning difficulties.  They rarely choose not to have a home, although there are always a few exceptions.

'Getting a job' may be the ultimate goal, but first they need to be healthy, mentally and physically, and have somewhere to live.  The old psychiatric hospitals may not always have been perfect, but they provided a level of care for some people who would otherwise have been on the street.   We also had sheltered workshops for those with disabilities, who now have to compete with more able people for even the most basic jobs.

Still, the average age of death of rough sleepers is somewhere in their forties, so they aren't going to be a burden for long. 

Thank goodness for people like Bee's granddaughter and all the unspoken volunteers who give up their time to help.


Thanks for that GrannyMac.
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zoony

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #31 on: Nov 27, 2019, 11:39:47 PM »
[quote author=GrannyMac link=topic=22232.msg403991#msg403991 date=1574886151

'Getting a job' may be the ultimate goal, but first they need to be healthy, mentally and physically, and have somewhere to live.  The old psychiatric hospitals may not always have been perfect, but they provided a level of care for some people who would otherwise have been on the street.   We also had sheltered workshops for those with disabilities, who now have to compete with more able people for even the most basic jobs.
Quote


  Mac. As you know but others may not, I trained at one of the 'large psychiatric hospitals' better known as bins. 'Bins' because they were places to dispose of people with mental illness. My introduction to it was daunting as I was assigned to the Refractory ward, basically, the Bin's bin, for the first three months. It was an unpleasant introduction to the job. Some patients had their clothing labelled, most didn't and were dressed from a store of old clothes. Where the clothes came from is a matter for conjecture but at least they were laundered and more or less fitted. When one has forty or fifty men, many on long-term and heavy sedation, many severely mentally impaired, some quite difficult or dangerous, to feed and clothe in a specified time it becomes a hard job for two people, most of the time. Five ward staff get spread thinly in such places..or were. But that changed when I was reassigned to therapeutic wards which were, because they could be, much more involved in treating the person as a person. This was the cusp of the 60s and 70s and it's when the idea of Therapeutic Communities became popular. It's also when the future of mental health nose-dived.
  Too much, too fast, too soon with too little thought and planning. The Bins were sold off to developers, the gates clanged shut and as a result we have people who should be being cared for wandering the streets homeless and trying to survive. And often failing.
"Listen to the wind, it cleans the mind."

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zoony

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #32 on: Nov 27, 2019, 11:41:02 PM »
I've no idea how that happened to my impassioned diatribe..Sorry folks.
"Listen to the wind, it cleans the mind."

"Never use money to measure wealth, son"

                                           cowboy wisdom.

Bee

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #33 on: Nov 28, 2019, 04:02:36 AM »
Gym owner and boxing enthusiast Sam Levett spends his free time collecting clothes and dishing them out to the homeless.
The 30-year-old from West Sussex said of the hundreds of people he has met on the streets, mental health is the single biggest factor in why they are homeless.
He has called on politicians to prioritise mental health care and support in the run up to the general election.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/election-2019-50507570/general-election-2019-mental-health-system-fails-people
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GrannyMac

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #34 on: Nov 28, 2019, 07:15:46 AM »
Zoony, on the button. As a housing officer, I visited tenants who really shouldn't have been living alone.  Sometimes they coped simply because a neighbour supported them.  It was precarious, and Universal Credit, whilst helping those who can find work, hasn't been kind to the seriously vulnerable.

That's heart warming Bee. There are many volunteers here too who give help, practical and material to the homeless, far more useful to society in general than simply saying 'get a job' or referring to them as trash.
Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right.

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Bee

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #35 on: Nov 28, 2019, 07:58:01 AM »
Zoony, on the button. As a housing officer, I visited tenants who really shouldn't have been living alone.  Sometimes they coped simply because a neighbour supported them.  It was precarious, and Universal Credit, whilst helping those who can find work, hasn't been kind to the seriously vulnerable.

That's heart warming Bee. There are many volunteers here too who give help, practical and material to the homeless, far more useful to society in general than simply saying 'get a job' or referring to them as trash.


I thought so too GrannyMac...........it disgusts me when people fall on hard times for whatever reason and are left homeless and people either tell them to get a job or call them trash............they should walk a mile in their shoes.
The only way is up....

ronyork

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #36 on: Nov 28, 2019, 08:45:51 AM »
Or perhaps get two jobs as many do!  I  think the idea of work  would make these lay-about,s feel worse, of course all these do gooder,s could perhaps invite these riff/raff  around to share xmas  lunch if they feel so sorry for them,(and the dog). Now that is dreaming.

GrannyMac

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #37 on: Nov 28, 2019, 11:31:01 AM »
If you were an employer, would you give a job to someone who was unkempt, smelled, couldn't read or write sufficiently to complete an application form, didn't have an address, and had obvious mental health issues, such as talking to imaginary people?  Of course, that's if they even knew there was a job, as most are advertised on line nowadays.
Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right.

R. Gervais

richmond62

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #38 on: Nov 28, 2019, 11:43:28 AM »
No, I wouldn't.

But I might ask them home for a bath, a change of clothes and a good feed.

ronyork

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #39 on: Nov 28, 2019, 01:16:09 PM »
Advertise jobs  in the food banks! How on  did our mother,s feed us during the war years ,well there were  no coffee shops/nail bars/ beauty parlours/ and various shops to waste their money on, electronic fags and tobacco products and then complain the money does not go far ,suggests they are not very bright,many invite poverty on themselves its easy to see why.

GrannyMac

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #40 on: Nov 28, 2019, 01:57:54 PM »
The mothers with children aren't the rough sleepers who are being told 'get a job'.  There is advice and support for regular foodbank users, but not everyone grew up in homes where good nourishing food was a priority.  So they never learnt what could be done.  During our lean times, I could turn out a good cheap dinner with a bit of mince, onions, spuds, veg. Some really bad housing conditions mean not every household even has the basics like a cooker.
Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right.

R. Gervais

little bob

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #41 on: Nov 28, 2019, 02:27:22 PM »
Always plenty young mums in mc-donalds,kfc,burgerking that's where the money goes  forgot about tattoos and fags.

mick607

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #42 on: Nov 28, 2019, 03:34:47 PM »
Advertise jobs  in the food banks! How on  did our mother,s feed us during the war years ,well there were  no coffee shops/nail bars/ beauty parlours/ and various shops to waste their money on, electronic fags and tobacco products and then complain the money does not go far ,suggests they are not very bright,many invite poverty on themselves its easy to see why.
Welcome to the Entitled Millenial Britain.

Audrine

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #43 on: Nov 28, 2019, 03:58:16 PM »
Granny Mac your posts are full of compassion. Thank you Audrine


So many of the homeless are veterans who have fallen on hard times, over here anyway. The trouble is, what to do about the homeless, all Countries have them. When I was in France several years ago, I was amazed just how many men were sleeping on the streets.Not just in Paris.

ronyork

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Re: Beggar in Stratford today.
« Reply #44 on: Nov 28, 2019, 04:41:53 PM »
Veterans???? Sounds good but no excuse, to many it’s just something to add to their C,V a qualification to beg, I am an ex serviceman, ask these scrounges for their service number a number you never forget, call their bluff, they would probably say [censored] off. While mugs fall for their SPIN they will alway,s be around ,.they blame the schools/parent,s/society never themselves,get the hoses out move them and wash them down.