'I'm sleeping rough for six months to save more former drug addicts like me with new £1m recovery centre'
A recovering drug addict from Leith is set to spend six months sleeping rough across 26 UK cities in a bid to raise £1 million for a new residential addiction recovery facility.
Richie Roncero, founder of West Lothian charity Steps to Hope, will begin the challenge on October 17. Carrying only a sleeping bag, a toothbrush and his phone, which he will use to document the journey, he plans to spend one week on the streets of each city, with locations chosen by supporters on social media.
The £1m target would fund the construction of a new five-bedroom residential recovery facility and cover its operating costs for one year.
The campaign comes just over a year after the charity opened Hope House, a 10-bed residential programme in West Lothian in August 2024. The facility was funded through an eight-week rough sleeping challenge which raised £240,000.
The 42-year-old from Leith, Edinburgh, said: “Last month alone we carried out 34 assessments, but we can only support 10 people at a time.
“A young woman came to us asking for a room and we couldn’t offer her one because we didn’t have the space. A week later she was dead. I don’t ever want that to happen again.
“I am dreading this challenge. It’s not like running a marathon. People are genuinely worried for me and I’m worried about myself. It was horrendous last time and this challenge is three times longer. But the cause is more important than me. We need to be able to help more people.”
His original eight-week rough sleeping challenge, which took him to Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, Blackpool, Manchester, Dundee, Newcastle and Inverness, was, according to Richie, “one of the most traumatic experiences of my life”.
He said: “It took me to a bad place mentally, but I knew there was an end date. Most people sleeping rough don’t have that.
“When you sleep on concrete you might get 40 minutes of sleep at a time, especially in winter.
“When I experienced homelessness during my addiction, I was using drugs and could numb the pain. When I do it to raise money, I’m sober and will feel every bit of the cold and isolation.
“Being freezing cold while thousands of people walk past you, ignore you, sneer at you or sometimes threaten you changes you, but we are turning people away because we don’t have enough beds. Last time round was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life - and that was only eight weeks - but I’ll do whatever I can to create more space to help more people.”
The Edinburgh man began using cocaine at the age of 15 and says it remained central to his life until he entered recovery in December 2014, bar one 14-month period of abstinence prior to relapse. During his struggle, he also used cannabis, ecstasy and prescription medication including Valium, and heroin.
Richie, who has three children, experienced periods of homelessness during his addiction, sometimes sleeping on park benches between moving from one relationship to another.
The former cremation technician said: “I grew up in a house with alcoholism and my dad left when I was four. I was shy and jealous of people who had fathers around. I was very self-conscious and unhappy in myself, but cocaine gave me a swagger. It made me everything I wasn’t.
“In total I spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on drugs. I took out payday loans, sold everything I had and everything my children had. I used to fantasise about dying. I was a complete mess.
“When I first went to rehab it didn’t work. I left early and used cocaine every day for nine months. But eventually a 12-step programme transformed my life.”
He founded Steps to Hope in 2018 after becoming sober, initially distributing hats and gloves to people sleeping rough, often accompanied by his daughter, as a way of beginning to repair relationships in his family and community.
Shortly before lockdown, he purchased a van which allowed him to deliver food to people experiencing homelessness when many soup kitchens were forced to close as a result of Covid-19. He worked seven days a week for seven months, supporting hundreds of people each night.
While Richie’s full-time position at the charity is currently funded by the Scottish Government, he believes greater investment is needed in long-term residential recovery for those seeking help.
He continued: “I support safe consumption rooms, but there needs to be proper investment in people who want to get out of addiction.
“There are too many hoops to jump through and too many barriers linked to funding or postcode. I’ll do what I can, but there needs to be facilities like this in every city. It’s absolutely vital that people who want help should have access.”
The 26-city challenge begins on October 17. Supporters can follow Richie on the Steps To Hope Facebook page as he prepares for his journey.
Steps to Hope operates a 12-step-based abstinence programme and accepts both self-referrals and agency referrals from across the UK. Less than two years after launch of its first residential facility, demand now far outweighs capacity.