Ringo Vision, known for feeding Croydon’s homeless, receives a police warning due to antisocial behavior concerns from his outreach.
Police warned him about serving food downtown after an incident at Surrey Street Market. The warning concerns antisocial behaviors resulting from his help. He paused helping Croydon’s homeless now.
Ringo questions why he got a warning for feeding people, believing he is far from a criminal. The police warning angered people, resulting in a petition asking the police to remove it. His outreach work centered on Surrey Street Market.
His work caused more antisocial acts around the market. People with Ringo got into arguments. A stallholder said Ringo needed to control his friends, as there were fights, and someone stopped a tram once.
On January 8, people gathered around Ringo’s trolley, acting aggressively toward others at the market. Ringo says a “fracas” occurred between groups. Police came, questioned Ringo, and issued a warning.
The police issued a Community Protection Notice Warning. It aims to stop antisocial conduct that hurts the community’s life quality, such as noise, trash, or other bad behaviors.
Police said the warning addressed issues harming the community, as businesses reported intimidating behavior. The warning doesn’t ban non-intimidating actions though. Ringo has fed the homeless across the UK and wants to help in dozens of cities.
Ringo believes Croydon has a unique problem. Many people come from across the world and end up there. Homeless people sleep in very bad conditions, often hiding out of sight, so people don’t notice.
Croydon’s hidden homelessness leads to unnoticed drug overdoses. Ringo says people must see Croydon’s situation to understand its severity. He’s cooked for over 20 years and felt compelled to act last year.
He woke up one Sunday with the mission to feed the homeless. He feeds people from a special trolley, based on Jamaican handcarts. He makes stews and jerk chicken, and his meals help the local community.
Despite recent issues, he’s family to the stallholders. Jose says Ringo does “great things.” However, people with him, not the homeless themselves, caused fights. Jose dislikes the police warning Ringo.
Jose’s kids signed the petition, wanting him to keep helping people. The petition asks to let him feed the homeless without police interference, claiming kindness should not be punished. It has over 2,000 signatures now.
Ringo was disappointed but not deterred by the warning. He drove to Crawley to camp and feed people there. He insisted he’ll be back and will keep serving Croydon, where people need him.