Britain’s Prince William said the charity he set up to show homelessness can be prevented had helped thousands of people avoid a housing crisis as he marked the project’s three-year anniversary.
William, 44, has for decades worked for causes supporting homeless people, inspired by a visit with his mother, the late Princess Diana, to a shelter for people living on the streets when he was 11. She died in a car crash four years later.
He set up Homewards in 2023 and believes homelessness is an area where, as a future king, he can make a difference.
“Homelessness is not an individual failure. It is a systemic failure. And if systems help create the problem, systems can help prevent it,” William said, in a speech in central London on Tuesday.
There are an estimated 300,000 people homeless on any given night in Britain, according to the charity Crisis.
The project aims to create a blueprint over five years to show how support, funding and mentoring can help prevent homelessness.
“Across our six locations, we are seeing measurable signs of change,” William said, adding that he was keen to see the Homewards approach rolled out in other parts of the country.
At a time of greater scrutiny of the royal family’s finances, William announced in May he would sell off parts of his vast inherited estate, partly to benefit people living there by investing in affordable homes.
Homewards has built affordable homes at some sites, and is working with banks like Lloyds Banking Group to help those at risk secure funding for accommodation, and employers like Ikea to help people find jobs.
Chelsie Robinson, 28, an opera singer from Newport in Wales, told media her life had unravelled following the death of her mother. She said Homewards, and William’s interest in her story, was key to getting it back on track.
“It’s helped me a lot, and then I finally have my own house, my own flat now, and my job… it’s just amazing,” she said.
(Reporting by Sarah Young）
