City scheme to help the homeless

People in Derby are being discouraged from giving money to beggars on the city's streets.

Instead they can put cash in special containers located in shops and stores across the city, in a new campaign launched on Monday.

The money will go to agencies that support homeless people and give food and shelter.

New figures suggest that over a recent two-week period, there were ten to 13 people begging on Derby's streets.

Aggravated begging

The scheme, Make It Count, also aims to highlight the fact that begging and homelessness are not always directly linked and raise awareness about issues surrounding homelessness.

City Centre Management Derby has organised the campaign, which is supported by Derbyshire Constabulary, Derbyshire Community Foundation and Derbyshire Housing Aid.

City centre manager Melanie Allen said: "We aim to reduce the amount of aggravated begging in the city centre by highlighting the potential problems associated with giving directly to people begging on the street.

"Other cities, including Nottingham, Stoke, Winchester and Cambridge are currently operating extremely successful schemes and there's no reason why aggravated begging can't be reduced in Derby."