Poster campaign aims to help

I am sorry that Richard Woolrych feels I am being sensationalist in drawing attention to the link between begging and the misuse of hard drugs, although delighted that he considers Thames Reach Bondway to be doing some excellent work ("Life on the streets", Letters, 15 August).

I would agree with him that most begging is passive and not aggressive and that offering a person food or drink is preferable to giving money. Thames Reach Bondway's poster campaign is not intended to make points about aggressive begging. It has one simple purpose: to prevent people who beg from dying as a result of misusing heroin and crack cocaine purchased with money they have received from the public.

As part of the campaign, we are urging the government and commissioning bodies to ensure that access to a range of drug treatment services and facilities for people who want to tackle their habit is considerably more rapid than the eight-week wait that is currently our common experience.