Prince William announces major news ahead of solo outing

The Prince of Wales is marking an important milestone ahead of his solo visit to Sheffield on Tuesday.

The future King, 43, is determined to end homelessness for good through his Homewards programme, and this week, the campaign marks its two-year anniversary.

In a letter to mark the anniversary, William has urged those working on the campaign to “Keep going!” as he described how the initiative had started to “shift the dial” on the “mammoth challenge”.

He added that his programme was now in “delivery mode” and he outlined his optimism it would lead to long-term change.

“There are now people who are no longer experiencing homelessness thanks to your tremendous efforts,” the Prince said in the letter thanking Homewards’ local coalitions.

William’s visit to the city in South Yorkshire comes as Homewards announces major progress within its six flagship locations: Aberdeen; Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole; Lambeth; Newport; Northern Ireland and Sheffield.

The first residents will move into homes delivered by Innovative Housing Project in Sheffield, and William will also visit a local school to see the impact of a new early intervention model, which has been introduced to identify young people who may be at risk of homelessness and provide prevention support.

‘Upstream’ is modelled on the Australian Geelong Project, which saw a 40 per cent reduction in youth homelessness and a 20 per cent reduction in the number of young people leaving school early.

Over 100 initiatives to tackle homelessness in the six locations are now underway, involving the creation of new homes, funding and finance, data, early intervention, employment and changing the narrative to reframe perceptions of homelessness and inspire optimism that it can be ended.

The campaign is a major long-term focus for William, who has told how visiting shelters with his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales when he was a child left a deep and lasting impression and inspired his work.

Michael Corbishley, Head of Local Delivery for Homewards, talks about the Prince’s hands-on involvement in the campaign: “This is an issue that the Prince has followed and has felt a very personal connection to from a young age, and I think he talked about, both when we launched the project and in the Homewards documentary last year, about his personal connection to it, but also using the platform that he has, to create positive action on this really important issue.

“The entire team hears from him on a regular basis, he’s in regular meetings on Homewards. I think one of the things that inspired him and the team when they created Homewards were those, global examples of seeing that this could be done. We’ve talked about an Australian example, and we’ve talked about Finland a lot. He’s often reading about international examples, and sharing ideas with the team and indeed, he is closely following the work of Nansledan on the Duchy, and that’s really, really important to him.

Royal impact

Polly Neate, former CEO of Shelter and Women’s Aid and now an independent social policy commentator, spoke about how William is making a huge impact with his platform.

She says: “When you walk past somebody who’s sleeping rough on the streets, you feel obviously a level of sympathy and empathy, but I think you also feel that you don’t know what to do. You really feel helpless.

“You feel a bit guilty and you get in that cycle of emotions that is actually really disempowering and leads to a kind of sense that this is just an inevitable awful issue and there’s nothing we can do about it, and I guess that’s where we are in our wider culture as a country we see homelessness as something that is inevitable that we don’t really understand, that we feel powerless about doing anything about.

She continues: “I guess for me, what Prince William and Homewards are doing is tackling that culture straight on and saying this is not inevitable, this is preventable, we are empowered to do something about it if we all work together, and it is something that as a country we shouldn’t just accept and we shouldn’t just put up with.

“When you have somebody like Prince William really being very clear that it is possible to prevent homelessness, it is possible to end it, it is hugely impactful, and we’re already seeing that.”

Prince William’s letter in full

Dear Homewards local coalitions, 

As we mark the second anniversary of Homewards, I want to extend my sincere gratitude for what has been achieved since our launch. 

In the first year, we laid the foundations of Homewards in our six flagship locations across the UK. We brought together hundreds of committed organisations from across the public, private, and voluntary sectors to form Coalitions in each location, united in the shared mission to demonstrate that it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated. 

Many of you have been on the front line of tackling homelessness for decades; for some, Homewards represents the first time you have engaged on this issue. Your experiences are what makes Homewards unique and powerful. We have the ability to harness our collective capabilities, expertise, and resources towards this common cause. I am immensely proud to say that your collective effort has already allowed us to achieve lasting impact. After a year of convening, our second year has seen Homewards shift into delivery mode. 

We have moved our first residents into homes, scaled innovative solutions through the Homewards Fund, launched locally led initiatives to tackle homelessness and forged Activator partnerships to deliver homes and employment opportunities with Lloyds Banking Group and Hays.

Together, we are demonstrating tangible impact. I know this is a mammoth challenge and change won’t come overnight, but over the past year we’ve started to shift the dial and there are now people who are no longer experiencing homelessness thanks to your tremendous efforts. Homewards is an ambitious programme. 

Tackling homelessness is not just about building homes. Creating long-term change is complex and unpredictable, but I am confident we can lead and inspire understanding, empathy and optimism that homelessness can be ended. Focus is also important, and you have identified the groups particularly at risk of homelessness in your locations to drive solutions that show it is possible to prevent their homelessness. 

While visiting the six locations, I have been inspired by the motivation, creativity, and expertise that is embodied in each location and the tangible difference you are making for some of society’s most vulnerable. We know that achieving our goal will take a collective effort, but the power of partnership cannot be underestimated and we will continue to support your hard work and build momentum by bringing in new partners and resources.

Success for Homewards means demonstrating that change is possible; that homelessness is not the insurmountable challenge it is too often perceived to be. I am so grateful to all of you, and to all those partners who will continue to join our mission. As we move into year three, I am optimistic we can succeed in our collective endeavour.

Keep going! William.