IT is very hard to miss the growing number of beggars and rough sleepers in Leigh as you walk through the town centre on any day of the week.

It is a distressing sight.

Most of us are guilty at some stage of turning a blind eye to this suffering, writing it off as a hopeless affair that can’t be solved, while many households live from day-to-day just one expense away from disaster.

And not just over Christmas.

Begging for food and sleeping on the streets is not safe or comfortable and it is not a dignified way of life.

It is never a choice.

Community attitudes however tend to place some blame on the person experiencing it.

A public perception survey in 2014 found most people believed bad decision making, mental illness and substance abuse were the major causes of homelessness.

The reality is that housing affordability, financial difficulties and family violence are much bigger drivers.

There is no question that if a census were made today it would find an increase of rough sleepers and young people and women and children escaping domestic and family violence.

I thank God for the many volunteers and charities who, not just at Christmas, are inspired to get involved and help support this ever growing number of people who are, for whatever reason, living rough on the streets of Leigh and elsewhere.

Bob Welch

Butts Bridge

Leigh