KEEP YOUR MONEY
CHURCH LEADER SAYS MOST CITY BEGGARS ARE NOT SLEEPING ON THE STREETS
As concerns grow over suspected drug-users slumped in city centre, priest warns that organised begging is fuelling addiction
SLUMPED in a Newcastle church yard in the middle of the day, this man shows little sign of life. Worried passers-by stop, check he is breathing and call for help.
Now concerns have been raised over the increasing number of suspected drug users spotted barely conscious in parts of Newcastle city centre.
Today, a leading charity executive told how begging on the streets of the city is increasingly a drug problem and NOT a homelessness issue.
Often beggars are using cash given by generous Geordies to buy drugs, authorities have warned.
“If you give £10 to a beggar you might as well just hand them a bag of heroin and a syringe,” said Rev Dr Nicholas Buxton, from St John the Baptist Church on Grainger Street.
Located on one of the busiest thoroughfares in city between Central Station and the Monument, thousands of people walk past the gates of the church every single day.
This has made the area close to the church a ‘prime spot’ for beggars.
Father Nicholas has said that the begging he sees around his church is seemingly organised and he regularly watches people handing over cash they’ve been given in exchange for drugs.
He said: “I see the same groups of people, working with one another, handing the money over to dealers in exchange for drugs. They sit in set patches at set times. It is like something from Victorian times, it’s quite Dickensian, like Oliver Twist and Fagin.”
Police, Newcastle City Council and homelessness charities are warning people not to be taken in by beggars who appear to be homeless, as the majority are not rough sleepers.
Father Nicholas said: “There’s a myth about homelessness. Just because you see someone sleeping on the street in the day it doesn’t mean that they are homeless or have nowhere to go.
“The majority of genuinely homeless people are living in the parks or abandoned buildings, they stay out of sight.
“But to people walking down the street they see someone begging with a sleeping bag and think, ‘poor soul’ and give them £10.”
Changing Lives is a charity working predominantly in the North East to tackle homelessness and addiction issues among vulnerable people.
The organisation has helped 6,000 vulnerable people.
Chief executive Stephen Bell has worked for Changing Lives for 15 years.
He said: “Begging is more of a drug problem than it is a homelessness problem. Most people are begging to fund drug habits, they are using the money to buy drugs.
“People begging can bring in between £200 and £300 a day to fund their drug habits. It is a lot of money they can get reasonably easily without a lot of effort.”
According to research by Nationwide Building Society, just under half of people living in the North East (48%) say they see ‘homeless people’ once a week, while 22% of people report seeing
them every day.
Mr Bell however warns that it is not easy to measure the number of genuinely homeless people by counting those begging on the streets.
Court records show that the majority of all people charged with begging have a home address.
Last Tuesday morning in Newcastle, eight people slept rough on the streets of Newcastle, all of whom were approached by Changing Lives staff and offered help and support, and the majority of those people were already known to the service.
Mr Bell said: “It looks to people like there are more and more people sleeping rough when that is not the case.”
A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said the city has seen an increase in the number of people begging.
A spokesperson said: “The reasons why people beg can be very complicated, such as drug or alcohol addictions. Newcastle City Council is committed to working with partners to help people stop begging on the streets and get the support they need and move into recovery and sustainable lifestyles.”
Northumbria Police are working in the city centre to tackle drug dealing and say that so-called legal highs continue to blight the city.
Newcastle city centre Neighbourhood Inspector Steve Wykes said: “We know people are concerned about drug use in Newcastle city centre and a lot of work is being done in partnership with Newcastle City Council to tackle it.
“Drug dealers are supplying new psychotic substances and other class A drugs to vulnerable people in the city, many of whom are sleeping rough and have to turn to begging to fund their addiction. “By taking drug dealers off the street we can cut off the supply of these substances and help get those vulnerable users the support that they really need.
“Many of those who beg in the city centre are not homeless but are driven to asking for money because they are stuck in a vicious cycle of addiction where they are taken advantage of by dealers.”