The whole issue of whether one should give money to beggars or not rears its head from time to time, particularly, it seems, amongst Christians. I get quite frustrated when someone point-blank refuses to give money to anyone on the streets at any time because it is wrong.

The main arguments used against giving money:

• The person will use the money to buy alcohol or drugs
• The person is fraudulent, they don’t really need the money
• We should try to provide physical aid (food, clothing, etc.) to the person instead of money
• By giving money to one person, you could be swamped with other people begging for your money

I believe the person who says that money should never be given is as hard-hearted as the person who says they would always give money is naive. What we must consider, as free from cynicism, past experience and prejudice as we can muster, is each case on its merits. That is not to say that when someone asks for money, we enter into a long dialogue with that person over their worthiness to receive money.

What I am suggesting is that we attune our spirits and our good-willed instincts to the person we find in front of us.

On Friday, I really wanted a cappuccino, so I stopped at one of the kiosks at Waterloo station to buy one. A guy next to me, possible homeless, asked if I could spare some money for him to get a cup of tea. Quite apart from the fact that I couldn’t justify spending £1.70 on myself and say that I had no money “to spare” when I had at least another pound coin in my pocket, I felt at that time that he needed it. OK, a cup of tea isn’t much, but he had 10p and wasn’t going to get much for that.

Perhaps if he had approached me on the concourse, as I have been before, I might’ve responded differently. I expect the ‘cup of tea’ or ‘something to eat’ line is used quite a lot by beggars – sometimes it will be true, sometimes it may not be. Those arguing against giving money would say that the money will go towards alcohol or drugs – though I’m not sure how far a few pennies go towards feeding such a habit!

Will we get it wrong? Of course. If we are open to giving, there may be times that we give money to someone who doesn’t need it – but surely those genuinely living on the streets are less well-off than we are.

If there is an alternative to money, I can spare the time, and the person is ready to accept it, then I will seek that option – buying food, for example – but I would never rule out giving financial aid just because there is suspicion of motive or need – after all, I’m not a bank, I’m a fellow human being.