Was cycling home from my parents when I spotted a prone guy on the pavement being helped by two women who had stopped their cars to help him. This was around 14:00 in a quiet but very wealthy (footballer houses) suburb in South Manchester.

So I stop and see what’s up because it didn’t seem right to ignore them. It ‘looked’ like the guy had fainted prob due to heat. He was about 30, kind of scrawny and scruffy. His story was that he lived in a hostel in Stockport, had got off at a wrong stop the day before and had been trying to walk back to his hostel because he had no money. On questioning his said he hadn’t eaten since the day before, he had an epi-pen and was supposed to be on some meds for schizophrenia. He definitely looked exhausted and his demeanour and cloths matched his story.

One of the women calls emergency services, lots of back and forth questions with her as an intermediary. After about 5 mins the chap is standing up again and saying he just needs to get to Altrincham or Hale station and again the ‘no money’ story. He’s saying he doesn’t need an ambulance now because ‘no point’. He said it’s happened before when he’s not eaten. He can’t get hold of his social worker because her phone is off as well.

Now I don’t know if there’s a genuine medical problem. I discuss with the woman phoning the emergency services and we kind of agree that if he doesn’t want an ambulance then we should respect that. I don’t see anything like an obvious head injury and he’s lucid.

He’s mentioning again that he just needs to get to the station (which is about 2 miles away). Despite the fact that I never give money to beggers I give him £10 which I know will pay for a ticket to Stockport. Ideally, I would have liked an ambulance crew to check him out. He asked me if I think that will buy him some food as well as the train fare. I said I dunno but that was all the cash I had (a lie). Now I’m getting the wrong vibes and just leave as does the woman.

After cycling for about 10 mins I’m thinking he just pulled off a scam with quite a bit of skill. He was never heavy on the pressure for money but ‘having no money’ and a need to get a train ticket was a constant theme. As soon as I gave him some money he subtly asked for more. Also, he just happened to faint in one of the richest suburbs in Greater Manchester at a time when lots of mums were coming back from the school run. The journey he must have taken on foot to go from the station he claimed to have alighted from, to the place he ‘fainted’ at is an extremely meaning, long and odd route. It doesn’t make much sense.

Of course, it could all have been true and I’m becoming a hardened cynic as I get older!

Just in case I filed a police report should this fits a pattern of deception.

I’ve half a mind to cycle around the same area at similar times of day and see if he’s back at it.

wandering around with an empty petrol can saying they need a fiver to get home is a good one, too.
I buy them things, rather than cash. scoot to the train station and get a ticket, for example.

You did the right thing. Look at it this way – if his story is true then you could have really helped some poor guy. If false, well then you’re down a tenner, no biggie (presumably). If you’d refused, he might’ve died just so you could feel good about having not been scammed.

Better to be a good person who is occasionally scammed than a bastard. I consider the inevitable scams to be the price of being good.

If I was a scammer, I wouldn’t be feigning illness around the richest parts of town. They are rich for a reason! 😆

it’s a tenner. Let it go ffs. 😆

Just assume you did a good thing and get on with yer life. phoning the polis for a tenner! 😆

It’s a tenner, move on.

There used to be a guy who got on and off trains at London Bridge doing a routine about how he couldn’t get his stock of big issues because the guy at their office had broken his leg. Same tale over and over on packed commuter trains. Probably saw him once or twice a week.

Similarly there is/was a woman who used to do a “just found out my mum’s got cancer and need to get to the hospital and need money for a cab” routine (you could walk it from where we were). First time I saw her I had no cash on me, then she was back again pretty regularly. A lot of lawyers, bankers and accountants round our area popping out for sarnies so a good target area maybe. Last time I saw her was just before lockdown she started the same sales piece on me twice in ten minutes – it clearly was a well rehearsed tale over a number of years. She’s a lot pushier though.

Some people are just shit out of luck and need a help. You can’t always tell which are which.

ps, best way to give tenners away to the homeless, is just to pick someone at random and stick it in their hand/tub, don’t give any to to the ones that ask ye.

You took a risk on being a good guy and helping someone.

No reason to reproach yourself.

Was I naive?

Yes.

Manchester, specifically, is awash with “train fair home” beggars. It’s always the same story and almost always with Scouse accents.

The epi-pen prop isn’t one I’ve seen in Manchester but it’s a trick I’ve seen elsewhere as part of an obviously well practised routine (diabetic / insulin in that case, captive audience on public transport which as near as damn it opened with “ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please..!”).

If you want to appease your conscience, offer to buy them a ticket. Or suggest buying food and you’ll keep them company and chat to them whilst they eat it. You’ll quickly see the cut of their jib.

If I was a scammer, I wouldn’t be feigning illness around the richest parts of town. They are rich for a reason! 😆

it’s a tenner. Let it go ffs. 😆

If I was a scammer I’d expressly be targeting areas filled with people who might think “it’s [only] a tenner.”

If I was a scammer I’d expressly be targeting areas filled with people who might think “it’s [only] a tenner.”

I’d go for the higher footfall areas tbh. not the leafy suburbs.

had got off at a wrong stop the day before and had been trying to walk back to his hostel because he had no money

What was preventing him? Which stop did he miss?

You can walk from Wilmslow (which is the first place I thought of from your description) in two and a half hours and that’s further afield from Stockport than anywhere in “South Manchester.”

I’d go for the higher footfall areas tbh. not the leafy suburbs.

Quantity vs quality.

… plus, y’know, inbreeding. (-:

Better to be a good person who is occasionally scammed than a bastard. I consider the inevitable scams to be the price of being good.

I’m with Molgrips as he states above.

I’m with Molgrips as he states above.

I don’t disagree and that’s how I’ve always dealt with the alleged homeless, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and would rather be jibbed out of a quid than mug someone off who had a genuine need.

But as I said, the ‘fare home’ sob story is rampant in Manchester and it’s bollocks.

Cougar
Subscriber
I’d go for the higher footfall areas tbh. not the leafy suburbs.

Quantity vs quality.

tight gits though. like I say, there’s a reason they’ve got money. 😆

Fair.

Possibly.
The bus/train fare sob story was a regular occurrence when I lived in Leeds and it was always the same small group of individuals.
My answer was always no.
Having volunteered in the homeless sector for years I’m very clear about street begging and homelessness; there is a difference but I’m not saying they are always two totally separate groups – there is some overlap.
The homeless are, generally, either linked into support services or known to them.
Street beggars, in my experience, rarely accept offers of a hot drink and/or McDonalds (other fast food options are available) as an alternative to money, some get gobby when you don’t divvy up and generally refuse to engage with support services.

Having volunteered in the homeless sector for years

So what would you recommend we do for the best? I’m thinking of Steve Hughes’ line here: “don’t give your money to him… give it to me, and I’ll make sure he gets it.”

My first judgement is “do they actually look homeless?” To my mind someone clean-shaven with a spanky haircut is less likely to be in genuine need of assistance than someone looking like the lovechild of Stig of the Dump and Catweasel.

My second is an attitude test, no sorry I don’t have any change, “well have a good day anyway sir,” I’m more likely to suddenly find some then, even though I appreciate that might be part of the game.

But as above, I’d rather err on the side of being taken occasionally so long as I can help the genuine ones. So long as I am actually helping the genuine ones.

So what would you recommend we do for the best?

I’m not making a recommendation; it’s a personal decision for everyone to take.
Homeless charities, councils and police generally recommend not giving money.
I wouldn’t condemn or criticise anyone who chooses to give money.

Naive- No !

A royal Basteward by sounds of your whinging – Yes !

ps, best way to give tenners away to the homeless, is just to pick someone at random and stick it in their hand/tub, don’t give any to to the ones that ask ye.

Which presumably is why someone randomly bought me some sandwiches many years ago 😀

It’s always the same story and almost always with Scouse accents.

No bias there then.

It’s been years since I lived in Manchester, but Cougar’s description still rings true. Was a near daily occurrence for me back then. Same stories, over and over. Always bought a Big Issue though (that was always more about showing moral support than financial support for those selling) and contributed to local charities… and did do the buy a spare hot drink or sandwich thing. Lots of ways to help a tiny bit. I’m afraid I’d never give money for train or bus fares though. Not against giving money directly, but that scam was all too common.

I imagine that an increasing number of people are like me and no longer carry any cash – just my cards

I was caught out in Coventry by the (same-ish) trick. I only realised as I saw him walking away and looking back at me. That money would have been cranked up in no time. Problem is you hit rock bottom and you’re on the streets. Pavements are kin hard and ‘secure by design’ spikes exclude you from many potential sleeping spots. Spice is your answer and bingo! three days later you’re on the hook and you’re now a druggie beggar with face and hair to match and you’re frozen to the spot. Giving money to some poor soul under itchy arch is commendable but is not the basis of an effective social policy. None of this should be happening.

I imagine that an increasing number of people are like me and no longer carry any cash – just my cards

As a socially awkward, terrible liar; I am very happy that I can now truthfully say that I have no cash.

he just happened to faint in one of the richest suburbs in Greater Manchester at a time when lots of mums were coming back from the school run.

tight gits though. like I say, there’s a reason they’ve got money. 😆

This x1000

We live in Timperley, but the missus decided on a nursery in Hale for some reason. One Red Nose Day when I picked the kids up in the adternoon they were all dressed up and doing a collection, so I bunged twenty quid in.
We got a general all-parents email later on that week saying how much fun they’d had and thanks for the donations. In total they’d raised just over £70. I turned to the missus and vented about how pathetic it was that all the other parents in their Mercs and Bentleys (yes really) had only managed to cough up fifty quid between them. At which point she said ” oh did you chuck in twenty quid too, I gave them twenty when I dropped the kids off in the morning….”

As above, they’re rich for a reason.

Better to be a good person who is occasionally scammed than a bastard. I consider the inevitable scams to be the price of being good.

Exactly. Either way. Your life is (probably) immeasurably better than his.

There was a guy round Wolverhampton who asked fro train fair to Shrewsbury because his van had broken down. First time I bit, but I came across him a week later, same story so I told him perhaps he should get a new van…that didn’t go down well

I’ve had similar in Manchester. When I said I was on my way to the station (I was) and offered to buy him a ticket rather thn giving him his fare in cash I was met with a load of swearing.

I enjoy a good scam if the performance is good and I haven’t lost too much money. I consider it a not totally unreasonable way of filtering money from the relatively affluent (me) to the less so (them).
Most recent one was a guy selling useless cleaning gear at the door. His patter was so good (but obvious bollocks) that I gave him £10 for his performance.
My favourite money extractor is the guy in Durbar Square in Kathmandu who knows all the world capitals. After a couple of years I looked some difficult ones up especially but I couldn’t beat him.

I had the variation of this where a guy walked out the the train carriage to the door area and then made a loud phone call to the benefits office saying he needed the money now for his wife and baby and next week was too late. Etc etc.
Three people went out to him and gave him money.
Not enough obviously as a few days later he was doing it again on the same train (different time of day).
He got off at the urban hellhole of Brockenhurst in the New Forest.

Can I balance this a little bit?

My brov suffers from epilepsy and frequently has an episode of absence or fits that happen in public. He can look (from a distance) like a druggy or alcoholic (and a lovely side effect can sometimes be that he wets himself, completing the look ), and speaking with him, he comes comes across like this also. If you offered him cash at this point, he’d probably take it from you, and then wonder 20 mins later why there’s a tenner in his pocket that he didn’t know about.

He might ask you where he is, or directions to another part of town. Last time he had an episode he was on a bus headed into town, and got off thinking he was headed home, only to get back on the bus a few miles later when he realised what had happened…The driver was both confused and concerned so called for an ambulance. They recognised him, and took him home (he swears he’s never met them before)…You get the picture.

Yes there are scammers, but there are also folk how suffer from medical and physiological issues. My own view (I understand it’s coloured by my brother’s experience) is to accept most folk at face value, if that costs me the occasional tenner, then so be it.

sounds like that episode of IT Crowd

No bias there then.

None whatsoever, it was a statement of fact. Feel free to invent things to complain about though.

lots of mums were coming back from the school run

Although it is the summer holiday 😉

But you did a good thing in thinking about the welfare of another. I am a cynic and wouldn’t have given them money, but I think that says more about me than you.

Was I naive ?

Nope, you did the right thing.

Doesn’t matter what it gets used for, be that food, alcohol,tobacco or even heroin.

I doubt many here have been really hungry, or cold from successive nights spent in sub zero temps. Or be suffering from a debilitating addiction, and lets face it, if thats the case theres sweet fanny adams in the way of help as the Tories shut all the community and government help projects they could find. A cycle of poor diet and the cold easily knocks 20 years off a life. Add an addiction and existence would be horrible.
And not everyone is homeless because of an addiction, believe me there are some horrific life stories out there.

Well done on giving him a tenner though, that act at least brought him some relief.

Have you still got your wallet?

My (late) father in law was driving through Manchester a few years ago and a brawl spilled into the street in front of him – perp knocking 7 shades of the proverbial out of some poor unfortunate, with screaming woman trying to call him off. Being a bit handy, and a fair minded sort, he got out to intervene. Perp runs off leaving victim groaning in the road and hysterical woman. He checks the guy over, all the time being harried by the woman. All of a sudden, the victim springs up and  buggers off at a gallop and the woman runs off in the other direction. Thoroughly bemused  he got back in his  van trying to figure out what it was all about. Then he realises that they’d lifted his wallet!

(This came on top of getting stuff robbed from his van while loading up at the wholesaler – kids with binoculars in a tower block overlooking the loading bay relaying instructions to their mates on the ground.)

That’s Manchester for me.

scoot to the train station and get a ticket, for example

Yeah, let them get in your car. Good one, Shaggy.

Used to be a chick who hung around Wolvo train station asking for a quid to help get back to Shrewsbury because she got her bag nicked. I’m like “I’d stop coming to Wolves cos you get mugged every day darlin”