Prince William has issued a rallying cry for communities to help solve homelessness, stating that the issue "affects us all." The Prince of Wales made the remarks as he marked the third anniversary of his ambitious Homewards project, which aims to make homelessness across the UK "rare, brief and unrepeated."
Homewards Project Marks Third Anniversary
Speaking at an anniversary event at the Tate Modern museum in London, William said discussions around homelessness have been difficult because "homelessness has not been a sexy subject for most people, it's been a thing that no one wants to talk about." The future king added: "Everyone knows it's there but no one really tackles it and now we're trying to elevate it to the point where it's like: 'This affects us all' - we need to talk about it and we need to be more focused."
The prince this week announced that the project has raised £7.7 million in funding, adding to £50 million in support from Lloyds Bank to spur the five-year project toward achieving its goals set out in 2023. However, William said there is more to be done, including in the six trial locations where radical reforms are taking place to show homelessness can be alleviated.
Six Trial Locations Across the UK
The initiative is being trialled in Newport, Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen, Sheffield, and the three neighbouring Dorset towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch. Explaining his findings over the last three years, William said: "So what we've found with Homewards is that if we can put a committee and a convening plan together and then draw people in, you create a really interesting dynamic. But it does take a lot of time and effort to do, and you need somebody that's willing to do that, otherwise it becomes the state's problem and no one then bothers with it."
Funding and Partnerships
In the last year, the project has invested £1.9 million across the six locations, with another £3.5 million raised through grants and private philanthropy. New partnerships include a £2.3 million furniture collaboration with The Multibank, DfS, Bosch Home Appliances, IKEA and B&Q to help people establish and sustain tenancies and prevent homelessness. These commitments are in addition to the £50 million donated last year by Lloyds Bank to unlock new lending to support organisations delivering homes.
Measurable Impact
William said he wanted to celebrate the programme's impact to date and explore how prevention can be applied at scale. He added: "Across our six locations, we are seeing measurable signs of change. Three years on, Homewards has helped more than 73 people into stable housing, supported more than 250 people into employment and reached thousands before they reached crisis. These aren't just statistics. They are people who have a home, a job, and a future that looked very different only a few years ago."
Later in the afternoon, William visited a site in Aberdeen, one of the Homewards locations, where 31 people are now living in homes created through the programme. At a special anniversary event, the prince urged Homewards to reach new levels, saying: "The next two years are about proving that what works in six locations can work across the country."
Royal Connections and Support
During his visit to the Tate, the Prince viewed a Homewards timeline drawn by artist Myro Doodles, which included a sketch of when he first visited The Passage with his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1993. The timeline also included William's recent visit to the same homelessness charity with his eldest son, Prince George, in December. He was invited to sign the mural next to the sketch of him smiling beside his son.
Elsewhere during the visit, he reunited with Aston Villa star Tyrone Mings, who as a child lived in a homeless shelter and helped launch Homewards three years ago. Mings, who plays for the Prince's favourite team, said: "If you had told us about the impact this would have had three years ago when we were in Sheffield, then we would have been very proud of the work that it's done."
