As Edinburgh bustles with tourists dodging flyers for shows and clicking their cameras at Edinburgh Castle, just a few turns off of Princes Street, you’ll find Richie at St Cuthbert’s on Lothian Road. Every Sunday and Monday night, Richie and the Steps To Hope Team provide warm food to those who need it most in Edinburgh, where drug related deaths have tripled since the early 2000s. Every Sunday and Monday night, they’re at St Cuthbert’s church on Lothian Road, hosting a soup kitchen to provide food and support to anyone who needs it, feeding around 200 people.
Food is cooked and served entirely by volunteers, and on top of this, these events provide a sense of community and support for those experiencing homelessness or addiction, with volunteers being made up of locals who have experience with addiction, or none at all. A blether can form a community. These meetings do however have a strict rule: if anyone asks you, a volunteer with no personal experience with addiction, for advice, you need to go get someone who works at Steps To Hope to help, and remove yourself from the situation.
This might sound harsh to some people, but it’s a fantastic way for former addicts to look out for each other, and guarantee that those needing help are given the correct advice from those who know first-hand what its like to be in recovery. This action, led by those who have overcome it themselves, is the frontline of the battle that Scotland is losing. Read More: Why we have to lega.