A recovering addict has challenged himself to break a world record by busking for 27-hours from today (December 2).

Rising star Laurie Wright is attempting to break the 'World Records Of Music longest busk' in the name of charity.

The 29-year-old will sing his charity single 'Cold Turkey on Christmas Day' and will donate all proceedings to Shelter and Young Minds charities.

"These are close to my heart given my past struggle with homelessness, addiction and mental health in my teens and twenties," said Laurie.

Your Local Guardian:

Laurie started his mega performance outside The Bentall Centre in Kingston at 8 am this morning. 

"I’ve done 24-hour busk's for Clic Sargent, for Syrian refugees and Oxfam before- so I wondered what the world record was," said Laurie.

"It’s currently 26-hours and so I wanted to break it."

After overcoming his long battle with addictions and homelessness, Laurie wanted to help others with their recovery.

"It’s important to support Shelter and Young Minds for me, as homelessness is something that isn’t treated with enough empathy and compassion by our government.

Your Local Guardian:

"Mental health is not addressed enough.

"The youth in particular really suffer from mental health in this ever-changing world, and so we need to be compassionate and take action to change this."

Speaking about his experience with homelessness, he said: "My homeless struggles included being bottled by drunk people; emotional abuse from drunk passers-by, being told to get a job or being called a crackhead, which of course I was.

"I overcame these problems by going to rehab and 12 step recovery and I’m now a year clean and sober.

"Music is everything to me, it’s all I’ve ever done or wanted to do.

"My song is a lighthearted take on a very serious subject- I was in rehab over Christmas and I wrote it as soon as I came out."

Your Local Guardian:

Speaking about his preparations leading up to the performance...

"I’ve prepared for the performance by not singing since Sunday and tried to sleep as much as possible.

"I’m used to marathon busks so it’s just the next step to break the world record.

"Dylan and Kieran my good friends and bandmates are helping me with tea, coffee, water, the tech side of things and dealing with potential trouble from passers-by. I’m so grateful to have them as friends.

"I’d like to raise 10s if not hundreds of thousands for Shelter and Young Minds this December, so I’ll hope for the best!"

Laurie Wright can be found outside The Bentall Centre in Kingston until 11 am on December 3. 

To stay up to date with his work, follow his Instagram page @ lauriewrightmusic