They’re still active. One middle aged woman approached me a few weeks ago on Lord St, just outside the Co-Op, asking if I could spare a pound for the bus.
I said I didn’t think so and by the time I took the change out of my pocket to check, she’d walked off.
However, just after I’d come out of the sweet shop around the corner, she found me again.
“You’re the one who was going to give me a pound weren’t you?”
Gave her one, and she walked away with a murmer of thanks.
Has another woman ask me today, by the bus station, asking for a pound for the bus (déjà vu). I just said no and carried on walking.