A former addict is sleeping rough on the streets of Aberdeen to raise awareness and funds for a homelessness and addiction charity.
Richard Roncero arrived in Aberdeen on Saturday and spent a chilly first night near Union Street.
Equipped with a standard sleeping bag and roll mat, he managed to find an alcove on a side street to shelter from the rain.
Mr Roncero, who set up his charity Steps to Hope three years ago after beating his own addiction, has spent three weeks sleeping rough in various cities.
While people in Edinburgh and Glasgow have spoken to him, he said it was disheartening in London where he was ignored for a week.
And while people in the Granite City are friendlier, the 37-year-old admitted he had been surprised at the temperature difference.
He said: “It’s certainly a lot colder than London and Liverpool. I’m tired as well now, I’ve completed three weeks, this is now me stepping into my fourth week.
“No one spoke to me in London at all which was a bit of a culture shock for me, so it’s nice to be back in Scotland. I’ve been handing out some leaflets and even those who don’t want a leaflet have at least been saying ‘no, thank you’.
“The people here are friendly enough, but it’s just very cold and my moods a wee bit low just due to the nature of what I’m doing.”
He will stay in the Granite City until November 27 before moving on to Dundee – his final destination.
Encouraging ‘more compassion and more love’
Upon his arrival to Granite City, Mr Roncero was disappointed to discover that shower facilities are difficult to find, unlike in other cities.
He has taken no money on his challenge either, relying on begging to raise money to buy food to eat and food services that are available to rough sleepers.
Through the challenge, Mr Roncero is aiming to highlight the challenges that many homeless people face and how lonely sleeping rough can be.
“What I’m trying to do is document how difficult it is for someone to do basic things like go to the toilet, get a shower, find a safe spot to sleep for the night,” he said.
“I’m trying to encourage more compassion and more love. I understand you can’t afford to walk down the high street and give a pound to everyone’s cup, it’s just not realistic, you can’t do that.
“But what you can do is give them a smile and say ‘how you doing?’ and just give them a minute of your time”
He added: “Looking up at someone and they’re not interested in you or pulling wee horrible faces, it really does affect you.”
Steps to Hope
Mr Roncero is a former addict and will be marking seven years of sobriety in December.
Steps to Hope feeds around 3oo to 500 people a week in Edinburgh and houses around 13 people in a full recovery programme aimed at rehabilitation.
They have even housed a young man from Aberdeen who was battling addiction. Mr Roncero proudly explained that he is now clean and sober and reconnected with his family.
Mr Roncero set an original target of £20,000 on his JustGiving Page. Although he has hit this target he hopes to raise even more which will be used to expand the charity.
“I believe Steps to Hope is needed in most cities, especially in Scotland,” he added. “There’s more drug deaths in Scotland than anywhere else in Europe and that figure continues to rise each year.
“We would love to branch out to Glasgow, Aberdeen, Livingston, even going down south but we need funding for that.”