Could be considered loitering, which is an offence. But yes, she’s not much trouble to anyone.
That said, low-level anti-social behaviour on the high street is bad for shops (which are not faceless businesses, but are the livelihoods of hard working local people), at a time when they face huge pressure from e-commerce, and high business rates. We need to do everything we can to make the high street feel welcoming and appealing to shoppers - which means ensuring beggars get the help they need to get off the street, rather than cash handouts which encourage them to stay.
Even that would be excessive. I can see what you’re getting at with regards to the impact overly aggressive/demanding beggars could have on local independents, but she literally just sits there, staring at the opposite wall of the underpass and doesn’t utter a word unless offered/given food or money. Hardly something to cause you concern on your way to grab whatever you need from Dartmouth or London road.
I’ve seen her in central London too in Victoria street, which gave me a big surprise! I’ve also seen her helping people with luggage/buggies up the stairs in the underpass. And she has never asked for money.
Hi Chris, We’ve been told in the past by the local Police that she has social housing accommodation and access to benefits. She has also been offered several other avenues of help to stop her present behaviour including, but not limited to being repatriated to her family in Italy, and has refused them all.
I was carrying 2 tubs of 4 litre paint the other day. I was struggling. The lady asked if she could help & carried one for me. At no point did she ask for any money. We walked past numerous people who acknowledged Stephanie.
She was not sat on the high street.
If you think that somebody, potentially homeless, undermines the success of the high street is a worry.
If you have a different experience to the rest of us, I’d recommend you share this at the Forest Hill Ward meeting where local people help set the priorities for policing.
At present, local people have listed begging as one of their top three concerns for police to deal with. And the police have co operated - especially in cases where beggars are not genuinely homeless, and have refused help - like this one.
But if you and @robin.orton feel beggars bring something positive to the high street, why not make that case at the Ward assembly, where it can feed into local decision making.
Bump into her 2 or 3 times a day and has never asked or hassled me for money. Have seen her help people out plenty of times whether it’s helping people out with their luggage up and down the stairs or minding their belongings. Any attempts by the police to warn or arrest her is a waste of resources in my opinion.
That’s understandable, but as has been observed repeatedly here, this woman is not a beggar. She does not ask for anything. I personally feel that any discusssion of real concerns with begging be separated from discussion of this person.
I agree, that is a concern. I just feel that conversation about begging in our area in general would be better separated from discussion of this one person. As many local people have had very positive interactions with her, it is natural that they will want to defend her, and the wider issues don’t get a proper airing.
I’m glad that the lady has been the subject of this discussion from time to time because it reminds people to be open-minded about kinda-odd people as they can often surprise you in a good way.
100% agree with that. I’m glad to understand more about her situation and hear from other people about the sort of person she is. It’s important to challenge our stereotypes about people who don’t necessarily fit in to the expected norm.
My concern is where discussion of beggars in general uses her as an example. Discussion gets bogged down in debates on whether she is or isn’t a beggar, and really relevant issues on begging and antisocial behaviour don’t necessarily get addressed. However, on reflection I don’t want to ask the mods to start hacking about threads to remove more general discussion from this specific topic, as that just gets messy. So I guess I’m just flagging this up as something to think about, to advance discussion more generally in a useful way.
No-one sits in a grotty underpass to pass time. She’s there for money and/or food, regardless of whether or not she has conventional shelter to return to. However, she just sits there in silence without bothering anyone. Just another one of Fozzy Hill’s characters.
On several occasions I saw at least 3 men crowd around her taking what money she had collected. I think that she was controlled by somebody or someone and I’m positive that those men were Eastern European. I saw the flowers on the way home tonight and can’t help but wonder if it was a tragedy that could have been prevented.
That’s sad to hear but not entirely surprising, given what several people said, earlier in this forum topic.
Above all, it reinforces the points made by the local police and by experts with long careers helping the homeless:
In this case, this poor lady appears to be a victim of modern slavery. And the supply of money given to her by well-meaning people kept her on the street, away from her family in Italy.
If the supply of money ceased, this vile form of slavery would end and lives would be saved.
Stefania’s two children might not have lost their mother.
With respect, I implore everyone to stop handing cash to homeless people and instead give it to the charities trying to help them off the street
Was there any response to this? Does anyone know when/where the next meeting is, who is on the panel, what the process is? Anything would be appreciated.
