The recovering addict and founder of charity, Steps to Hope, Richie Roncero, will spend the next six months on the streets of the UK to raise funds for recovering addicts.
He left Hope House, the residential recovery centre which his charity runs in West Lothian, on Saturday to begin the challenge in Glasgow.
The fundraiser is already at £312,000 and Roncero hopes to raise £1 million to stop people “dying on waiting lists” while they wait for help for their addictions.
Recovering addict and charity founder Richie Roncero sets off on six month sleep out
Picture Alan Simpson
Roncero was previously homeless and he has completed sleep outs before in a bid to raise monies, but this year the 42 year-old will spend his birthday and Christmas on the streets. He will travel to all four corners of the UK, and will stay for seven nights in 26 places without money or everyday comforts.
This time he will sleep rough for much longer than before which he knows will be tough.
He said: “There’s not one bit of me that wants to do this. I’m losing sleep already, up in the middle of the night. My head is going, trying to prepare myself for six months on concrete. It’s not safe, there’s no guarantee, no certainty, I’ll be alone and isolated.
“I’ll miss Christmas and New Year with my family, and I’ll be out on my recovery birthday when I turn 12 years sober. I’ll be out on my actual birthday as well, and I’ll be missing my daughter’s birthday too.”
He added: “I’m giving up my security and risking my mental health, putting it all on show for the world to see which is daunting. It’s hard to carry yourself and motivate yourself when you’re at low points with your mental health, and that will happen.
“But we have people dying on our waiting lists and I take calls from parents, and kids, people begging for their loved ones to get support.”
Richie, who experienced periods of homelessness during his own 16-year battle with addiction, knows first-hand the physical and mental toll that sleeping rough can take.
He added: “I was in active addiction for 16 years but I won’t be taking something that’s going to knock me out and let me get a sleep. I’ll be sleeping 20 minutes at a time, because you hear a noise, your head’s up, checking if anything’s coming. It’s exhausting.
“But Steps to Hope is my life, seven days a week. My juice comes from watching other people’s lives get better and improve. I can see that magic in Hope House, I can see that getting better every single day.”
He will livestream his time on the streets to help raise awareness and show the reality of life for people who experience homelessness and posted the first on Sunday morning:
With the monies Roncero hopes to create five additional bedrooms at Hope House. The charity has the planning permission but now they need the cash.
Full schedule of dates and locations:
- Glasgow 17th – 24th October
- London 24th – 31st October
- Manchester 31st – 7th November
- Durham 7th – 14th November
- Dundee 14th – 21st November
- Cambridge 21st – 28th November
- Dunfermline 28th – 5th December
- Belfast 5th – 12th December
- Derry 12th – 19th December
- Cardiff 19th – 27th December
- Swansea 27th – 2nd January
- Stirling 2nd – 9th January
- Westminster 9th – 16th January
- Newcastle 16th – 23rd January
- Inverness 23rd – 30th January
- Birmingham 30th – 6th February
- Saturday 6th February sleep out at Hope House
- Bradford 7th – 13th February
- Aberdeen 13th – 20th February
- Leeds 20th – 27th February
- Bristol 27th – 6th March
- Liverpool 6th – 13th March
- Perth 13th – 20th March
- Sunderland 20th – 27th March
- Bath 27th – 3rd April
- York 3rd – 10th April
- Carlisle 10th – 17th April
ALL PHOTOS © ALAN SIMPSON
