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I'd like to tell you all about a guy I knew.
He was a regular face in East London.
His name was Louis Wade.
I saw him in passing over the years.
He was homeless though he'd never be in your face about it or even ask for money.
There were times where he wouldn't even go to the local food shelters as he felt ashamed.
Occasionally, he would jump a side wall at Upton Park and sleep in the grounds of West Ham FC to be safe.
You'd see him pushing a trolley around every now and then filling it with scrap to make a few quid.
Did he drink? Sure he did, but that was so he could forget he was hungry. Not so much of a social outlet really.
You'd see him more often than not, on a bench at the end of Romford Road with a few mates who were also homeless.
They'd keep themselves to themselves and just talk, smoke a stubbie or drink if they had one to share.

Louis was eventually murdered on this bench, by a gang of teenage cunts who thought it would be cool to kick a homeless man to death. In trying to protect himself, he was stabbed and died as a result.
Louis was to all intents and purposes, a lovely man who just wanted to get by.

When he died, it made front pages locally.
I found out something about Louis. This homeless man was a war hero. Served in the Falklands. Did the whole 9 yards in the army.
When he left, he had his own cab firm that he worked hard to build with his wife.
A young couple with everything to live for.
Sadly, she died and it broke Louis. He couldn't cope with life without her and nobody was there to help him out.
The firm fell apart and so did his life. Lost his house and everything.
Ended up on the streets & was murdered.
The guy put his life on the line for the very cunts that ended up killing him for a laugh.

Why doesn't Whitehall have a place for soldiers in need to go to!!
Back in America, the vets have got special units that cater for them. They are given help mentally & physically.

Don't assume that every out strecthed hand, or every sullen face belongs to a beggar by choice.
The nasty little ponces who have homes to go to or are just there for workshy kicks will always make themselves known and obvious. They only make a small % really.
If it isn't too much trouble, please spare a thought for Louis and maybe offer a prayer.

Thankyou.

Don't think I was giving you a hard time Poo...or do I call you Mr Sil?

I worked for an organisation that helped street sleepers at night.
I got to see a real nasty side of London and it was a total eye opener.
The genuine cases are out there but unfortunately they are tarred with the same brush as the ponces.
The junkies that I came across didn't give a shit where they were as long as they had a fix. Plenty would get a shot of Meths just to tide them over.
I don't count these people as part of the equation,
I have no time or sympathy for drugs.
But the genuine stories are heartbreakers.
It was so damned nice to be able to trace work files and find out that X,Y or Z had finally made it to a little flat and was taking a college course.

What made it extremely hard for the genuine cases, were the wankers who just wanted to ponce. It's the same as bogus refugees clogging up the system for genuine cases.

Everyone gets tarred with the same brush.

you certainly shouldn't feel selfish for not giving to homeless people. There's loads of them in london, used to just be all over the central part and near the big train stations, now they're moving out into the suburbs (why do most seem to be scots?).
Most of the time i see them when i'm at work, and i pretty much resent the fact that i've got up, gone to work and done 8 hours work and then some beggar asks me for money. It might only be small change but why should i even bother going to work if i'm going to give some of my earnings away to someone who doesn't work.
I could even go on about the more crafty ones: the ones with dogs, or the ones that sit next to cash machines. Sorry, but i've got no time for homeless people.

its hard to tell round my way who are the genuine/false theres a lady that begs near me at 1st i used to dodge her but i see her almost evrey day she talks very educated and is really nice but i dont want to get involved with her she was telling me that her kids have been taking away from her and shes homeless.

thats a sad story holden,it seems to me people dont care anymore there are still a hard lot of barstards and callous people around i knew a lot of hard people at school etc but i dont think in a million yrs they would have done anything like this .

There will seem to be a greater amount of Scots (and those from the north of England) because London is seen as the place to be, and a lot of young people head there as soon as they are able. The fact that they don't know anyone there, that it's almost impossible to get a job interview let alone a job without a proper address, none of that deters them. All they see in the beginning, through their rose tinted specs, is the glamour and glitz of the capital, not the squalor and grime they're more likely to end up in.

In the mid-70s, ITV did a remarkable documentary about teenage runaways heading to London looking for fame and fortune, only to end up in the hands of pimps and dealers. As long as the "streets paved with gold" myth survives, there will be people naive or desperate enough to believe it. 30 years on and things haven't changed.


On the topic of begging, there will always be chancers who will lie, cheat, intimidate to get money, and have no conscience about it. But there are plenty of genuinely needy people, and blanket bans on begging will possibly drive the desperate to crime.

think it was called shown around 75ish about a young runaway[scottish]i only recall it vaguely think it was a world in action special or something,funny enough ralph mctell had just had the reissue hit streets of london when it was shown .