House transformed into recovery centre for people struggling with addiction

A West Lothian house has been transformed to help people battling addiction.

Hope House, which has been the vision of Richie Roncero, the founder of charity Steps To Hope, will house ten addicts with the aim of helping them achieve sobriety through education.

Residents will be put through an addiction recovery programme that includes workshops and group sessions.

The programme lasts for a minimum of 90 days but guests are welcome to stay at the property for up to a year.

The charity has been redeveloping the house for 14 months. STV News

Originally launched in 2018, Steps to Hope provides life changing programmes and weekly soup kitchens to help people tackle addiction.

But the charity was keen to create a recovery centre in order to address the issue homelessness often faced by addicts.

Mr Roncero, a recovering addict himself, set up the charity following his experience of getting clean.

Last winter, he slept rough for two months across the UK and raised £250,000 towards the cause.

He said: “There is no hope out there. When you’re sleeping on concrete under the elements of the weather, any type of substance to put you to sleep completely makes sense to me and I understand why people are aiming for oblivion everyday.

Melissa Murray and Richard Roncero are both recovering addicts and aim to use their experience to help others. STV News

“We’ve got people moving in here that are currently in homeless accommodation, which the environment is probably a bit chaotic and this is almost five star. It’s beautiful, every bit of furniture is brand new, it’s homely, it’s warm, it’s inviting and it’s just giving those coming in a great opportunity to change their life.”

Melissa Murray has been through the charity’s recovery programme and says it can save lives. She’ll now be the one giving support.

She said: “It’s been completely life-changing for me. It saved my life and it changed my life and that’s how I know for the first ten people – if they put the work in – that can happen to them as well.

One of ten newly renovated bedrooms in Hope House. STV News

“I think because I’ve been through the programme it’s something that’s very special to me, so I think when a job became available I was definitely going to apply for it.”

Through the last 14 months of redevelopment the team have had the support of local businesses to help to turn their dreams into a reality.

Euan Gordon from Property Revival Solutions said it’s been a pleasure to play a part in completing the project.

He said: “It’s been absolutely great, it’s definitely been an eye-opener how much the charity actually do for people that need help, so it’s been great to be a part of it.”