DAVID ROBINSON was not a “beggar” (Friends’ farewell to “loved” beggar, The Press, April 24). It was we, the passers-by, that received from David.

No matter how cold or wet the weather you would always receive an acknowledgement from David, if you spoke to him.

The path off Coney Street, by the walls of St Martin’s Church, was David’s patch. He ventured inside the church on a couple of occasions to pray, he told us, for friends who had died.

Well, many people packed the tiny church to pray and remember him at his funeral.

Of all the prayers and hymns offered during the beautifully moving service, perhaps the most poignant of all were the words spoken out loud by a member of the congregation: “Father, I’d walk a thousand miles for David.”

So, if you pass by David’s old pitch, outside St Martin’s Church, call into this “hidden gem” of a church and quietly remember him and all the marginalised in our society.

Ironically, St Martin of Tours is the patron saint of beggars; in art the most popular scene was that of Martin dividing his expensive cloak to clothe a beggar.

Derek Ralphs, Stirling Grove, Fulford, York.