Ending homelessness

Much has been written about the psychology of giving, the reasons why we donate to charity and the different triggers that spark acts of generosity, some rational, others visceral. I am particularly fascinated by the impulses that lead us to give money to people begging on the street. In fact, to be candid, I am frequently left incredulous at the justification given for dropping money into that cap next to the sign that says ‘hungry and homeless’. Research indicates that for 90 per cent of people who give, compassion is the motivating factor. So I should not have been surprised that when speaking on BBC radio last week on the subject of begging, the first question was ‘isn’t it counter-intuitive that a homelessness charity is urging us not to give to beggars’? There he is, the homeless man cross-legged beside the cash point, beseeching, grimy, desperate. Do the right thing. A few years ago, one such man attracted the attention of Grant Shapps, then the shadow housing minister, ...

  Shortly the annual homelessness statistics will be released. The latest London figures for March and April 2012 show an increase in new rough sleepers of 73% in comparison with the same period in 2011 so we can expect some staggering annual figures. There will be a universal wailing and gnashing of teeth. Indeed, I am contemplating booking myself in for some remedial dental treatment in advance. I fear that there will be a rise in the number of long-term entrenched rough sleepers too, not just new arrivals, though judging how great the increase will be is a difficult call. What is far easier to predict is the response to these figures because, by now, we are bound into a familiar ritual where each participant implicitly knows their role. It’s a dance where we all take our partners, and then off we go.   A type of St Vitus’ dance perhaps, which I understand is a disease characterised by rapid, uncoordinated and jerking movements.   This is my prediction: The r...