I write with regard to the article on begging ("Walk on by?", 8 August, page 16). I feel that aggressive begging is an important issue that needs to be addressed.

There is, however, a voice missing from this debate: that of homeless people themselves.

We are the people who are directly affected by these debates. The link being drawn between drugs, begging and homelessness stereotypes us. Not every homeless person takes drugs. Some of us are told by the public we are too clean to be homeless; others have been mugged. These experiences illustrate the complexity of the issue.

I am currently a volunteer and a user of the services at the Broadway Centre in west London. It provides appropriate services such as housing, clothing and showers, support for drugs and alcohol issues, and opportunities to volunteer and leave homelessness behind.

Stereotyping can damage people who are not drug users yet live on the streets.

I hope that, in future, our voice will be viewed as an equal in debates; homeless people are, after all, no different from you, except that they have experienced homelessness.

Source

Housing Today

Postscript

Christian Ashford, homeless volunteer and service user Broadway Centre, London