A BEREAVED man has spoken of the kindnesses shown in the North-East as he continues his near 900 mile journey without spending a penny on travel or shelter.

Steve Hallett lost his mum to a raft of medical complications as a teenager and faced living on the streets.

To raise money and awareness of homelessness and in memory of his beloved mother, the 25-year-old - who is carrying her ashes - is walking and hitching from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

This week the former waiter, from Newquay in Cornwall, has been passing through County Durham.

Despite sleeping in the open two nights, a Good Samaritan offered him a bed for his third evening in the area.

“I grew up with quite a dark opinion of a lot of things but I’ve experiences so many instances of individual kindness since doing this,” he said. “I’ve been genuinely inspired and overwhelmed by the sheer niceness of people.”

Mr Hallett was thrown a lifeline by his college following his mother’s death in December, 2010 and wanted to give something back.

He gave up his job as a waiter and set off from Land’s End on Boxing Day. Since then he has weaved his way via friends to his current location, Newcastle.

On Monday Mr Hallett reached County Durham and slept in bivvy bag close to the A177, near Thorpe Larches.

Next day he slept in a High Shincliffe bus shelter when a woman offered him a bed, bath and hot meal on Wednesday night.

“I’ve met some people who have gone the extra mile to help me, random people I’ve never met before,” he said.

Although he has been shown many kindnesses, he has found getting from one place to another difficult.

During his 70 days on the road he has only been offered 15 lifts and has walked about three quarters of the route.

“I’ve felt some of the exclusion that you feel when you’re stuck on the streets,” he added.

He has a fundraising target of £1,000 and so far has raised £405 towards national charity Shelter and the Drop in and Share Centre in Newquay.

To follow Mr Hallett find The Wandering Gent on Facebook and to donate visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/steve-hallett