In response to JR Stevens' letter (July 19) I should point out a few facts, which may have gone amiss when he read my letter.

Firstly, I did not equate the plight of the homeless with the separate issue of beggars obtaining an income.

My main point was that, ironically, people are far too quick to try to separate the issue of begging and homelessness - a point substantiated by JR Stevens' tone.

The fact that so many people are keen to convince themselves the majority of beggars earn a fortune or aren't really homeless, blinkers the public to the fact that a large percentage of beggars are also homeless and need our help. The idea of begging being used as a "lucrative income" has been blown out of all proportion.

Can we ever be completely sure of the circumstances which have led a person to beg?

If serious help were given to the homeless and if people spoke to them instead of pretending they don't exist, an idea of each person's situation would unfold. Those who truly need help would get it.

Of course, I am not condoning individuals who are not genuinely homeless taking money and support which should go to homeless people.

While people insist on bickering over whether or not someone is genuinely homeless, they are using up energy which could be better spent doing what they can to truly help.

It is not nonsense to suggest that being destitute can drive you to drugs and neither is it necessary to be well-off to obtain drugs while on the streets.

I can speak with a fair amount of conviction on the matter for the reason I am involved with a lot of charity organisations and see a lot of situations such as this.

There is certainly a huge number of dealers out there who will prey on the vulnerability and desperation of homeless people and use a number of ways to get them hooked.

Until anyone has experienced the desperation of being homeless, they cannot speak for what it is like and how they would survive.

-Carol Dowson, Steyning