The Prince of Wales surprised locals enjoying the sunshine on Bournemouth Pier as he arrived to showcase the work of his ambitious Homewards initiative.
The future king walked the length of the pier, past unsuspecting tourists and dog walkers, quickly drawing a crowd holding camera phones aloft.
Lily Childs, 12, her brother William, eight, and five-year-old cousin Eva had brought flowers for the royal visitor though, having been brought along by their grandmother Jan Gilbert.
After they called out “William!” he stopped to accept the bouquet, saying: “I didn’t expect any flowers guys, thank you.” Another onlooker shouted: “What do you rate Bournemouth out of 10?”
He laughed and replied: “It’s lovely! Especially in the sunshine.” Lily asked the Prince for a selfie and he said he would pose for one on his way back – later keeping his promise as he departed the Pier.
William was there to welcome international youth homelessness experts, who had come to see the innovative approach Homewards has developed to prevent the problem in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, one of its six key locations.
Teams from Australia, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Finland were there to see how local authorities, charities and other providers are working closely with schools to identify children and young people who are most at risk before they face a crisis.
As he met some of them on arrival at the Pier, a member of the Canadian delegation appeared to ask when he would visit. “I will be there soon, don’t worry,” he replied.
William introduced them to local leaders who are delivering the prevention-first approach in the area and they joined a session of the newly formed BCP Youth Homelessness Board, which brings together partners from the public, private, voluntary and community sectors.
Francis Beecher, independent chair of BCP’s Youth Homelessness Board, made William laugh out loud. “I told him he’d made youth homelessness sexy,” she explained afterwards. The prince had replied: “I’ve never heard that before. I will take that as a win!”
She later said of the prince’s involvement: “Having that patronage and also having that interest means that people who really don’t want to get around the table are getting around the table. And then once we’ve got them around the table, and we explain the pivotal part they can play, they get engaged.”
During the session, participants shared learnings and insights already emerging across schools, universities, housing, health and community services on effective homelessness prevention. They also discussed how the approaches can be scaled and amplified across the UK and beyond.
© Andrew Parsons / Kensington PalaWilliam also met Theo, 24, a member of Homewards’ National Co-Production Group, who has drawn on their own lived experience of homelessness to shape the programme’s local work and ensure young people’s voices are heard by decision-makers. Theo experienced homelessness at several stages in childhood and as a young care leaver aged 18.
They said of their conversation with the Prince: “I was a bit nervous at first, to be honest, but then he was really easy to talk to, very easy going and relaxed and respectful, and it’s been an amazing opportunity. He was very keen to know if there was anything further he could do to support.
“He was talking about how he’s always had an interest in trying to end homelessness and how he did a lot of work around it when he was younger. But he also mentioned how fundamental lived experience is and how he can’t do it by himself,” added Theo, who is now living in a council flat and studying History of Art and Classics at university.
They said of their role with Homewards: “It’s very empowering, and you learn a lot.”
Speaking ahead of his meeting with the prince, Dr Stephen Gaetz, CEO of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and Professor at York University in Toronto, said of William: “If you have a public figure who clearly cares about this issue and puts his name and his efforts into trying to change the way we deal with youth homelessness, people will listen. And clearly, he’s a pretty sharp person.
“It would be fantastic if that energy from the prince and the foundation could then influence things in Canada. This is innovation in action, this is taking things to scale and we need help, because we’re well meaning, but we’re not going fast enough.”
Freek Spinnewijn, head of FEANTSA, a European NGO whose members include the UK charities Crisis and Homeless Link, said: “The engagement of Prince William can cross borders, because there are other monarchies who have an interest in homelessness. Why not connect?
“I think homelessness for many people, is like an undeserving cause so to have a public figure like Prince William to engage, it makes it deserving.” “It will change minds,” added Dr Gaetz.
Melanie Redman, co-founder, president and CEO of A Way Home Canada, a national coalition working to solve youth homelessness, said its connections with the Royal Foundation and Homewards were “supercharging” their work.
“This is an exciting event for us because we’ve been doing some work with the Royal Foundation, and the work that’s being done here is very helpful to us in Canada.
“Some of our models are actually being implemented in the UK. And we have this fantastic platform for shared learning and collaboration and we’ve just managed to increase that with our connections with the Royal Foundation.”
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