Campaigner rough sleeping in Highland capital to raise awareness of stark reality of homelessness and addiction in the UK
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‘Rough sleeping is not acceptable at any time of the year, but right now is the worst,’ says Richie Roncero.
The 39-year-old has met us at our offices, with a large backpack and a suitcase: it’s all the possessions he has been carrying for the last seven weeks.
Richie is the founder of Steps to Hope, an Edinburgh-based charity that helps those who are homeless and battling the grips of addiction.
He is currently in the midst of a campaign to highlight the stark realities of homelessness, by sleeping rough over eight weeks in eight cities across the UK. This week he’s in Inverness.
Having previously battled with a 16-year addiction to drugs and alcohol, Richie is no stranger to adversity, but the last weeks have taken their toll on him.
He said: 'I’ve given everything up for this campaign: Christmas, New Year, and I celebrated my nine years clean and sober. I’ll turn 40 next week on the streets of Dundee.
“But I’m just trying to experience what loads of people are experiencing every day.
“I knew the public were quite harsh, but what I’ve witnessed has been heartbreaking.
“I've taken homeless people off the street to get them a hotel, and the moment the receptionist sees who is checking in they cancel the reservation.
“I woke up two lads in Newcastle, and I had never seen such a colour on humans before. It was minus four, they had frost on them and they couldn’t even take a cup out of my hand.
“They were profusely shaking, and when I eventually got them in somewhere, they were kicked out ten minutes later.
“Also, when I have been experiencing begging, I’ve been told to get a job, to go back to my country and I had someone standing over me with a bottle saying they were going to do me in. You are so vulnerable out there.
“You start to feel like you’re not part of society and your self-esteem goes.”
Richie has been capturing his experience through social media, which he says has been a good opportunity for open conversations to take place with people about giving to the homeless.
He continued: “We’ve been having open conversations on social media about handing money over, and people thinking they will buy drink or drugs.
“If we are going to give, we have to give without conditions - if that goes against your morals, give them a sandwich or a coffee.
"But the most important thing is a thumbs up or a smile. It just makes you feel more human again.”
The campaign is not only to raise awareness of homelessness and addiction, but he has also been fundraising for Hope House in Edinburgh: a 15-bedroom recovery facility to help people get clean and sober. So far, the campaign has raised £150,000, which will be used to fund the new centre.
“This started with five pairs of gloves and five hats and now we’re building a house,” explained Richie, “we’ve only been going for five years.”
“My addiction was for 16 years, and I tried to get help in so many ways, but I could not stop. Every time I tried, it just didn't work.
“I realised there were a lot of people out there that wanted help, but how are you going to get clean and sober on the streets?
“So, I wanted to create something that would make recovery visible and remove blocks for people as there are too many hurdles at the moment for people to get help.
“At Hope House, it doesn’t matter what your postcode is or if you’re not a local connection. You can come from anywhere in the UK, and someone from Inverness can get to our service.
“Secondly, there is no funding required and no housing benefit. We don’t claim any of that. If someone from Inverness had a wee flat and was getting housing benefit and battling addiction, they can keep their flat and come to us and get well and return back.
"The most unique difference is that we don't have a cap on prescription medication for coming into our programme.
“The rehab I went to, you had to be on 30 ml of methadone or less and produce clean samples.
“The guys that are coming to our soup kitchens are on 120 ml of methadone, they are using heroin and valium on top and are very chaotic. We are taking these guys and getting them clean and sober.
“I think the way our model is delivered is real. It’s hard; you are having to address yourself, deal with emotions and trauma. But it’s delivered with love.
“I tried GPs, loving my kids, my family, a psychologist, and went to prison. I tried for 10 years to stop, and I just couldn’t. I didn't go one day without a substance in 16 years.
“The programme we’ve got is centred around the 12 steps, and the therapeutic value of one addict helping another is key. It’s the only thing that worked for me, and I can only go with my experience.
“We’ve got group work sessions, 1-2-1s, community meetings, cooking, fitness and yoga, and lots of other retreats and fun stuff.
“We’ve got after-care for the graduates, and they are offered a check-in meeting weekly and can do peer support.”
Richie has been able to discuss addiction with a wider audience during his campaign, and hopes that one day the right investment and attention will go to people who are suffering from the disease.
He said: “There’s not enough people talking about addiction as an illness.
“We need to be treating people as patients, not criminals. I’m not saying they don’t need to be held accountable for their actions, but I think we are just locking people up and not addressing why it's happening.
“It comes down to trauma, dysfunctional upbringing, low self-esteem, and fear. When you start to treat that, and the person, they build self-esteem and they don't have a burning desire to change how they feel anymore.”
Compared to other cities, Richie says that Inverness has been ‘refreshing’ as he has seen no other rough sleepers and credits the city for looking after people in this respect.
He spends his days in McDonald’s and Wetherspoon’s to pass the time and is managing to shower in the train station. However, he does suggest that services make themselves more visible for anyone in need in Inverness.
Richie said: “It’s heart-warming to not see people rough sleeping in Inverness. In Newcastle and Manchester, I saw people sleeping in rows.
“However, I know there are services available here, but I am struggling to find them.
“My only thing for Inverness would be to make the services more visible. If a homeless person arrived here, they wouldn’t have the text messages I’m receiving about places.”
Richie’s dream is to one day have Steps to Hope houses available throughout the UK.
He concluded: “15 beds are a dream, but it's not enough. I would love to see Steps to Hope services rolled out across the UK. It’s going to save lives.”
Donate to the Steps to Hope campaign.
Highland Council Homelessness Team: 01349 886691
Gateway: 01463 718693
Inverness Foodstuff's drop-in café at Ness Bank Church, 1 Ness Bank, Inverness IV2 4SF is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 10am and 3pm. A simple breakfast is available from 10am to 11.30am.
Inverness Foodstuff, in partnership with High Life Highland, also provides lunches at Hilton Community Centre, Hilton Village, Oldtown Road, Inverness IV2 4HT on Wednesdays and Fridays between noon and 2pm.
If you are struggling financially to buy food and would like to talk to someone, call its telephone helpline on 07552 303056 which is open Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm and on Saturdays from 10am-1pm.
Where to find help for addiction:
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- Narcotics Anonymous
- Cocaine Anonymous
- Marijuana Anonymous
- Drug Addicts Anonymous
- Gamblers Anonymous
- Addiction Counselling Inverness
- If you are the loved one of an addict: Al-Anon and Addiction Counselling Inverness
