VAGRANTS ARE FED UP WITH KINDNESS
By Susie Steiner
      LONDON, April 28 (The Electronic Telegraph) – A campaign to stem the tide of do-gooders offering food to the homeless in central London has been launched after those sleeping rough complained that they were being woken at all hours of the night by continual offers of soup and sandwiches.
      Homeless people have expressed their annoyance at the volunteers and well-meaning people who crowd into the West End and King's Cross at night. As one group arrives hot on the heels of another, they are woken or have food left by their heads while they sleep, presenting an unsavoury sight first thing in the morning.
      "One homeless man woke up one morning covered in sandwiches," said Nick Dunne, deputy director of the charity Bondway, which runs an established soup-run. "Another said, 'Soup-runs are like buses. You wait ages for one and then seven come at once'."
      Westminster city council is warning of the environmental health problems caused by the surplus of food, including increased litter and vermin, and is part of a move to register organisations offering help. Annie Turner, of the Homeless Network charity which co-ordinates help for the homeless, said: "There are about half a dozen very established soup-running organisations but we have identified 40 or so other regular groups.
      "Then there are concerned individuals who turn up with their flasks of coffee and leftovers who are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. The problem is that there are a great many of them and very often they don't know that someone else has been by half an hour before. It's not well structured. So they will wake people up and disturb people who have had plenty to eat.
      "They will leave food next to people. Clearly, if you wake up to a heap of dried and old sandwiches, it's very unpleasant and it attracts vermin. It's very unsavoury for people sleeping there as well as for the local community."
      Alan Henry, secretary of Street Life, which represents the views of the homeless, said: "Homeless people are not consulted. It's the bleeding heart liberals - people who feel they have to be politically correct and do the right thing."
      One homeless person told Radio 4's Today programme that he could not get a decent night's sleep because of the chaotic convoys of goodwill. He said: "I can wake up and there will be five or six sandwiches either side of my sleeping bag."
      Vidura, who runs the Hare Krishna Food for Life project, said his group had been distributing food to the homeless in King's Cross and Lincoln's Inn Fields since 1978. He said: "In the last 18 months, we have been getting some competition to say the least. Sometimes in the evening, we have eight or 10 groups meeting us at the spots where we've been going for years.
      "Someone might have had a wedding party and there is food left over so they think, 'Let's give it to the homeless'. Then we come along at our fixed time, half an hour later, and they say, 'We've already been fed.' Then the next day we wonder whether to go back - that's the danger. I think the people wanting to give food are well meaning but it can be a little overbearing."
      Also at issue is the quality of food being given. Ms Turner said homeless people were particularly vulnerable. "The dodgy prawn sandwich which might make you or I feel sick could be very serious for a homeless person. Volunteers are not trained in food hygiene. They are not clear about health issues."
      Ralph Dhoran, 30, who has been homeless for four months, said: "It happens in the West End and is quite a pain. I can't understand why they do it at these times. Why one o'clock? People like us don't get any sleep anyway. Sleep is very precious as I try to get up very early to get to the Jobcentre. If I don't sleep, I can't get there in time."