Police and council urge direct action to tackle begging

BUSINESSES in Stratford have welcomed potentially controversial plans to take direct action against beggars in the town proposed by police.

During a meeting of Stratforward BID on Tuesday, businesses were encouraged to make their shop fronts less inviting places for beggars and, if they are affecting trade, ask them to move on themselves, before contacting the police.

Measures such as reducing the room available in shop doorways with planters, or making the areas near shop doorways wet, were suggested.

They were also encouraged not to give food to beggars but to make a donation to the Stratford Recovery Partnership which supports Stratford Link, a local organisation helping those on the streets.

The meeting was told that eight out of ten beggars in Stratford took Class A drugs and in a typical day of begging people could make between £80-£100.

The meeting was also told that 60 per cent of people begging in Stratford had a home and the rest have been offered the chance to take up accommodation.

Karen Stanley, head of community safety at Stratford District Council, explained that a new campaign encouraging people to ‘think before they give’ was being developed which aimed to dissuade people from giving to beggars.

The purpose of the initiative is to cut off the beggar’s income stream and push them towards seeking help from organisations such as Stratford Link or the Stratford Recovery Partnership.

Karen said: “We want people to understand that giving to beggars is not a benign act, it has consequences and these consequences can be fatal. I hope businesses and residents support what we are trying to do and that something chimes with them, whether it be that most beggars have homes or have been offered accommodation or the fact that by giving to them, they are putting beggars at risk of harm by helping them to stay on the street.

“Kindness can kill, we’re not trying to demonise rough sleepers or asking people to be cruel, ultimately it’s in these people’s interests if they can be encouraged to seek help.”

Anne Johnson, Stratford District Council’s new rough sleeper officer, said: “Stratford Link can only make sure the needs of people living on the street are met if we can see them. If people are earning a significant amount of money from begging then they are less likely to see us. A lot of the money given to beggars goes on drugs and that puts them in a particularly dangerous situation at the moment because the drugs currently in circulation in Stratford are of a high purity and pose a greater risk of overdose.”

This week the Herald approached businesses in the town to ask them about what they thought of the idea of making shop entrances less inviting places for beggars to set up.

Kim Wakefield, assistant manager at Boots on Bridge Street, said: “We do have our own plan in place, we’re looking at installing shutters to prevent people sleeping in the doorway and during the day our staff do ask them to move on politely.

“It does have an effect on us, mainly through customer complaints, and I think the measures suggested by Stratfordward are a good idea.”

Madeline Haynes, manager at Revival Health Foods on High Street, said: “It is a pain having beggars in the doorway next door, you can see people cross to the other side of the street and they’ve certainly caused a big drop in trade.”

The manager of Whittards on High Street added: “Knowing that most of them do have homes or have been offered places to stay does make me angry about them being here. However, I’m not sure about the suggestions made, I think there would be health and safety implications of putting planters in the doorway or making the ground wet. Also I don’t think asking businesses to move them on is good, we’ve tried doing that and we just get abuse. We had a 37 per cent drop in trade for the week they were set up near us.”

In a recent local online poll asking the public what the police’s priorities should be until December, 43 per cent said officers should concentrate their efforts on tackling begging.

Inspector Brealey at Stratford Police, said: “We do have a problem with begging in Stratford, but it is not out of our control. Stratford is a very safe place to be and whilst I don’t think we will ever eradicate begging in the town completely we can keep it under control.”

To donate to the Stratford Recovery Partnership visit www.justgiving.com/stratfordtrp