Prince William’s bid to end homelessness in ‘delivery mode’ as it hits second anniversary
The royal’s five-year Homewards project is aiming to demonstrate that it’s possible to end homelessness through more than 100 local initiatives and plans for 300 homes
Prince William, pictured on a visit to Homewards projects in Aberdeen, has set out a vision to prove that homelessness can be ended. Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
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Prince William’s bid to demonstrate that it’s possible to end homelessness has shifted into “delivery mode” as it marks its second anniversary, organisers have said.
The future king’s Homewards project is a five-year project across six local areas in the UK to test out solutions that could scale up to tackle the homelessness crisis.
More than 100 local initiatives are included in Homewards as it turns two this week.
There is also a pipeline to deliver 300 homes, including The Duchy of Cornwall’s work to build social housing in Nansledan, Cornwall, with the first residents moving into homes in Sheffield and Aberdeen this year.
Liz Laurence, programme director for Homewards said: “When we launched Homewards, our aim was simple. To demonstrate that together, it’s possible to end homelessness, working with six locations.
“Two years in, Homewards is firmly in delivery mode. Collaboration has been crucial in making things happen, and this year has highlighted the power of partnerships on a national level, but also the importance of local togetherness which has allowed for such meaningful progress.
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“We look forward to continuing and building on this work into year three of the programme and beyond.”
The homelessness crisis has intensified in the two years since Prince William set out his mission to address the issue with rising numbers of people on the streets and record-high numbers of people living in temporary accommodation across the UK.
But Homewards, which is backed by £50 million of new finance from Lloyds Banking Group alongside funding from the Royal Foundation, is starting to demonstrate some changes on the ground, according to organisers.
The five-year project is operating in Sheffield, Lambeth, Aberdeen, Newport in Wales, Northern Ireland and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Prince William will see some of the work up close as he marks Homewards’ second birthday in Sheffield on (Tuesday) 1 July.
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The royal will visit a school in Sheffield where, along with two others in the area, work is underway to identify young people at greater risk of homelessness and give them and their families early support to prevent it.
The Upstream project sees families surveyed to spot signs they may fall into difficulties.
It debuted in the Australian Geelong Project, where it saw a 40% reduction in youth homelessness and a 20% reduction in the number of young people leaving school early.
Youth homelessness charity Centrepoint has been operating the project in England while Big Issue recently saw Llamau’s Upstream work up close at our recent Big Community Roadshow in Cardiff.
The royal visit comes as residents have moved into homes in the city as part of a new Housing First project.
Sheffield’s Innovative Housing Project is unlocking homes provided by the private rented sector to support families through reshaping engagement with private landlords.
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The residents will have access to wraparound support while a services navigator, employed by Homewards Sheffield coalition member SOAR, will provide support services, including help to get into work.
The initiative is one of more than 100 across the six locations with 19 new initiatives funded through the Homewards Fund so far. The fund offers up to £500,000 of flexible seed funding to support each location’s local action plan.
Homewards’ second year saw the project pair up with Blue Light Card to give an estimated 60,000 people who work in the homelessness sector access to the discount card.
The project also teamed up with leading recruitment expert Hays to boost employment and training opportunities for people who have experienced homelessness across all six locations.
Hayes and youth homelessness charity EveryYouth’s employability programme Project Flourish has since worked to provide training to help young people into employment, creating new job opportunities at Specsavers and industrial services company Altrad.
The prince’s work was also covered in a two-part ITV documentary that even saw him meet Big Issue founder Lord John Bird and Cwmbran vendor Vincent Lewis.
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Going into the third year and beyond, Homewards is aiming to demonstrate how local solutions can prevent homelessness for specific cohorts of people before looking to scale them up.
Laurence added: “We’re proud to say, as we head into our third year, that Homewards is the broadest collective effort working to prevent homelessness across the UK.
“Collaboration has been crucial, and this year has truly highlighted the power of partnership. All sectors are stepping up to play their role and we have seen the business community specifically engaging on homelessness like never before.”
Former Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said that Prince William’s figurehead role in tackling homelessness has helped to shift the narrative and challenge stigma around the issue.
Neate suggested that there is a culture across the country that homelessness is “inevitable” and an issue where “there’s nothing we can do about it”.
She added: “For me, what Prince William and Homewards are doing, if you want to put it in a nutshell, 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.
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“I’ve been saying that for seven and a half years at Shelter but, sadly, I don’t have the profile or the voice or the impact that Prince William does when he says the same things. Having somebody like him really being very clear that it is possible to prevent homelessness and it is possible to end it is hugely impactful and we’re already seeing that.”
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