Prince William Surprises Royal Fans with Walkabout on Visit to Homeless Mission in Belfast

The Prince of Wales visited Northern Ireland to raise awareness of his Homewards homelessness project Tuesday

Prince William is taking things in his stride.

The Prince of Wales, 41, embarked on an impromptu royal walkabout while visiting Northern Ireland for his Homewards homelessness project Tuesday.

Dressed in a light jacket and dark pants, Prince William walked across the street to shake hands and hug locals after he visited the East Belfast Mission, which provides a range of homeless support across all communities in the Northern Ireland capital.

It was the latest stop in his tour for the project, which kicked off Monday with three stops around England and Wales. The initiative will provide $3.8 million to six different locations as seed money for an ambitious plan to make homelessness "rare, brief and unrepeated."

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During the first stop in Lambeth, London, on Monday, Prince William laid out his hopes for the five-year plan which will see six places acting as pilots for locally-based solutions to the issue.

"Over the next five years, I believe that we have a unique opportunity to develop innovative new solutions and scale tangible impact. This will inspire belief throughout the U.K. — and beyond — that homelessness can be ended for good," said William, while praising the already "strong tradition of collaboration" between local authorities and both the charity sector and private business in the U.K.

In Newport, Wales, he teamed up with former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner at a school to discuss the theme of prevention and the need to teach kids about the issue of homelessness.

At a nearby housing project, Prince William met residents including Mo Kharif, 50.

“No one else in his position is doing this or thinking about this. I watched on the news at breakfast and they were talking about it,” Kharif told PEOPLE. “Even his history when he was visiting a homeless place. In that moment I remember it, I was in Libya. I didn’t dream of coming over to the U.K.  and then meeting him. I never think of that.”

Later on Tuesday, Prince William landed in Aberdeen, Scotland, for the fifth location as he almost completed his tour of the six areas chosen for support by Homewards. In the city in Scotland's northeast, he spent time at the Tillydrone Community Campus, meeting initial members of the coalition being built through Homewards.

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Prince William was hoping to use the visit to spotlight how "co-located and joined up community support services can improve early intervention and prevent homelessness," his office said. He toured the campus, watched cooking classes and saw the NHS services, housing services and nursery sessions provided for young children and was joined by one of the Homewards Advocates, David Duke – the founder and CEO of Street Soccer Scotland and Street Soccer London.

Prince William's sixth and final stop of the tour was Sheffield. During his visit to Reach Up Youth, the Prince of Wales met initial members of the coalition being built through Homewards as together they start on the path towards ending homelessness there.

William's visit put a spotlight on how grassroots sports can connect young people with their communities, encouraging local engagement and boosting peer support to prevent homelessness. The royal was joined by Homewards Advocate Tyrone Mings — a player for Prince William's favorite soccer team, Aston Villa! — and together, they took part in sporting activities before hearing from young people who have experienced homelessness.

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