Hayley at Holyhead

[CaptainHaddock]

It seems station beggars are like urban legends; everywhere's got one but in each area the story varies slightly.

Sheffield's version is called Gemma; she inspired an epic 13 page theead on this link!

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=388890

 

[turboslug]

when i was a conductor for fnw we had on train beggars between earlestown & warrington on the llandudno trains, one of them would stop you when going through the train telling you a story why they couldn't pay the fare while their mates was in other coaches begging passengers for cash, they soon stopped getting on my trains when i realised what was going on & i wouldn't move train with them on board.

 

[CallySleeper]

Those of us who have been hassled by Big Issue sellers on the mez at KX, I'm informed by the BTP that unfortunately they are allowed to operate.

e: I've since seen their code of conduct which restricts the business on "private property, including rail stations". I think a complaint is in order.

 

[fowler9]

When I worked on Old Hall Street in Liverpool near the Moorfields entrance there were a couple every day who had been let out of prison and needed £2 to get back to Kirby. As I say, every day, and since this is the business district it was the same people they asked every day. On the other side of town there was a fella on Dale Street who ran out of petrol every day. Half way in between on Castle Street a really nice chap who was very convincing and needed a few quid to get to Holyhead.... every day.

There was a notorious fella who used to hang around the Mathew Street area of Liverpool every day. He would pick on people having a ciggy outside bars. He'd always driven his daughter and her mate in to town, they loved the Beatles and wanted to take photos. Apparently after he'd driven them in to town his car had been clamped and he would offer to leave his car keys with you in exchange for a relatively large sum of money.

I understand that sadly a large number of people fall on hard times but I don't like being lied to.

 

[DelayRepay]

I was approached by a female begger as I came out of the station. She claimed to be pregnant (to be fair she did look pregnant) and needed £15 as she had been robbed.

I said she should follow me to the British Transport Police office in the station - I didn't have £15 but I was sure they'd help. I won't say the word she used in response because the forum moderator would ban me!

 

[ReverendFozz]

When I was a kid, I lived in Local Authority Care and when I was in my worst phases, me and another lad would go AWOL for days at a time and the only way to survive I thought was to beg, so we would hang around Metro stations and the mainline station in Newcastle and also the Bigg Market. I used to ask for money to get round different places, my friend was more concerned about where his next spliff was coming from, people offered me sandwiches, hot drinks and a group of Newcastle fans helped back to Durham from Peterborough once, I was simply handed the ticket of someone in there group who decided to stay in London. I was the kind of beggar who wouldnt turn down a brew or a samdwich, I always appreciated any kind gesture and came to realise the mess I got myself into when my friend suggested we find the scruffiest looking dog and use it as part of our begging as he would say 'everyone feels sorry for a tramps dog'.

Never took a penny off anyone since then...

I tell a lie, coming home from Greenock a few weeks ago, a homeless guy approached me outside Glasgow Central and asked for £1 towards a brew, I was in a bit of a pickle myself, had my ticket to Newcastle but no money for the Metro or bus back home...He came back and talked to me just before I boarded the train, he asked me about the loom bracelets I had on my wrist, blue/white, black/white and green/white...I ended up flogging the blue/white and green/white loom bracelet to the guy for 4 quid as he was a Celtic Supporting Scottish Patriot

 

[phil281]

Those of us who have been hassled by Big Issue sellers on the mez at KX, I'm informed by the BTP that unfortunately they are allowed to operate.

e: I've since seen their code of conduct which restricts the business on "private property, including rail stations". I think a complaint is in order.

I think there is a big difference between a Big Issue seller and someone just begging for cash as a con artist or for their drug habit. At euston there is actually now a dedicated spot for a big issue seller. The Big Issue is a fantastic way of helping the homeless and it's good network rail support it.

 

[Amberley54]

Those of us who have been hassled by Big Issue sellers on the mez at KX, I'm informed by the BTP that unfortunately they are allowed to operate.

e: I've since seen their code of conduct which restricts the business on "private property, including rail stations". I think a complaint is in order.

In what way were you 'hassled', as my experience is that they have been a damn sight more polite than many other street traders etc.?

 

[contrex]

A woman aged about 50 came up to me at the beginning of the Bristol Temple Meads station approach and asked for money to get her and her daughter home to Newport. I said "sorry" and walked on, then about half way up the approach another woman, also with a South Wales accent, aged about 25, approached me. She looked like a younger version of the first one. She wanted money to get her and her mum home to Cardiff. I said "You'd better have a word with your mum back there because she thinks you live in Newport." Her reply was "Why don't you f**** off, you c***!". I was chuckling to myself all the way to Parkway.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

a really nice chap who was very convincing and needed a few quid to get to Holyhead.... every day.

We usually go to Nice for a holiday every year. About 10 years ago a woman with a Scandinavian accent came up to us and said she had been mugged and assaulted (bloody hanky, cut lip) needed cash for a meal etc but we didn't give her anything. She can't have a good memory for faces because she has asked us three times since. I reckon she bites her lip till it bleeds. When I said "What bad luck, this has happened four times that I know of", she turned around and legged it.