Professional Sandwell beggars 'earning up to £100 a day'
A councillor is pleading with people to give money to homeless charities after Sandwell Council officers reported some beggars were ‘earning’ £100 a day.
The figure was revealed by Abbey ward Councillor Bob Piper in a Facebook post which also says much of the money handed over by the public is used to buy drugs.
Councillor Piper says the good intentions of people is leading to the growth in what has been described as "professional beggars".
He said: “The reason I put this on Facebook page is it identifies that people giving money on Bearwood Road, do so with the best of intentions, but it is actually making the situation worse.
“People should report rough sleepers and beggars to Streetlink, a charity which tries to ensure that anyone sleeping rough has an offer of accommodation and assistance.”
He added the report by Sandwell’s Neighbourhood Team came after recent visit by council officers.
It stated: “What we also witnessed was that all the street beggars collate their money and one female buys their drugs.
"Having a conversation with one shop owner he stated that the public were buying clothing/food and donating it to the rough sleepers/street beggars.
“Whilst we were there the individuals were continuously given food and money by passing public. This isn’t helping the situation in Bearwood as individuals have become professional street beggars.
“One street beggar had stated that he was earning anything up to £100 per day plus receiving his benefits.”
Councillor Piper added: “There are cases were people have been offered accommodation and refused it but there has also has been a swathe of people hit by cuts in benefits and the introduction of universal credit, a lot under the age of 25 and particular among young males.
“There is a difficult in discerning between people who are in genuine difficulties and a chancer who will spend it on drugs, so the best thing to do is give donations to, or contact homeless charities.”
