A campaign has launched in Bath in response to requests from local residents and businesses to address the ongoing problem of street begging across the city.
The “Your Kindness Can Kill” campaign has been created by the organisations in Bath who provide practical support for the homeless to promote the message that giving money to beggars does not help solve the problem and in many cases is making the problem worse.
During May posters will be displayed in Bath city centre and leaflets will be handed out to educate people about why giving money to beggars is not helping to tackle the issue.
A local press and social media campaign will also be used to reinforce the message that there is a zero tolerance approach to begging and anti-social behaviour in Bath.
The group hope to encourage those who usually give money to beggars to donate responsibly instead by giving money to the organisations supporting the homeless in Bath using a text giving campaign.
Councillor Manda Rigby, who is part of the group behind the campaign, explained why it is needed.
She said: “Begging in Bath is an ongoing problem and there has been rise in the severity of this particularly over the last year. While people think giving money to beggars is being helpful but it is not, particularly as many people begging are not homeless and the money given to them is spent on misusing drugs and alcohol.
“People who live and work in the city centre are consistently faced with aggressive beggars and it’s time the matter was addressed before it gets out of hand. We must avoid getting a reputation for being a city that is easy to beg in or as one with a serious problem.
“There are people who are homeless and need support in a compassionate manner and we have established charities with the skills in place to support them.
“However, there are a number of people who are choosing to beg for a living and we must eradicate that from our city.”
The group behind the campaign are Julian House, The Big Issue Foundation, The Genesis Trust, Bath & District Business Crime Reduction Partnership, The Reach Floating Support, DHI, Bath & North East Somerset Council, Avon & Somerset Police and the Bath BID company.
Samantha Grief, of The Big Issue Foundation, said: “There is lots of practical support for people who are homeless in Bath and we are working together to reduce the problem.
“We have street pastors, outreach workers and the police proactively looking out for people who need support and making sure that anyone who finds themselves in this position knows where to go to find help as well as to stop people begging.”
To support the campaign, you can text the words KIND20 £3 to 70070, all monies raised will be shared equally between the local homeless support groups.
For more information about the campaign see www.yourkindnesscankill.co.uk.