Prince William Teams Up with Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner on Homelessness Project Launch

Ginger Spice and the Prince of Wales visited a school in Wales as part of William's U.K. tour to launch Homewards, his new initiative to end homelessness

Prince William had support from a familiar face during his U.K. tour promoting his new project to end homelessness: Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner!

The Prince of Wales and Ginger Spice teamed up during the third stop of Monday's tour promoting Homewards, his new initiative to combat homelessness. After Prince William, 41, stopped by Lambeth and Bournemouth, he traveled to Newport, Wales. Together with Halliwell-Horner, he visited Maindee Primary School, where they were shown the role that local schools can play in supporting children and families by intervening at the earliest point to prevent homelessness.

Halliwell-Horner, 50, is a big advocate of campaigns for women caught in domestic violence and wanted to be involved in Prince William's new project because women fleeing challenging situations often find themselves homeless.

RELATED: How Prince William's Mission to End Homelessness Was 'Inspired' by His Mother, Princess Diana

The royal family have a long history with the Spice Girls, and Monday's event was a reunion for Prince William and Halliwell-Horner, who shared a warm hug during the visit.

In 1997, the girl group was on hand to celebrate the 21st anniversary of The Prince's Trust charity at the Manchester Opera House, and they posed for a fun group photo with then-Prince Charles after their performance. They also traveled to South Africa for a meeting with Charles and South Africa's then-president, Nelson Mandela, in November 1997 — and Prince Harry tagged along for the trip!

Charles brought sons Prince William and Prince Harry to the 1997 premiere of Spiceworld: The Movie at London's Leicester Square. At the event, Halliwell-Horner famously broke protocol and "patted" Charles' bum, she later revealed to The Times. "We're all human," she said. "There was a lot of nervous energy — young women, happy antics."

Victoria (Posh Spice) and David Beckham were also guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2011 wedding at Westminster Abbey.

And last year, Prince William honored Melanie Brown — a.k.a. Scary Spice — with an MBE, and he even asked her if the Spice Girls were planning a reunion.

After the school visit, Prince William continued his stop in Newport at Hill Street, a community-driven project and example of an innovative way to deliver longer-term settled housing. Run by Linc Cymru housing association, it was built on a disused car park. 

Mo Kharif, 50, who was originally from Sudan and came to the U.K. via Libya, praised the prince for continuing what his mother started. Kharif remembers seeing stories of Prince William and Prince Harry with Diana in those childhood visits. 

“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 tells 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.”

He adds, “It is amazing, him doing this today. He was very open and he’s not looking like royalty from a castle. He was like a normal, normal person. Not everybody in his position do this.”

Prince William asked Kharif about his route to the Hill Street apartments. “It’s amazing. I’m very happy. It has helped me be more stable and help me to then continue my working life,” Kharif tells PEOPLE. "I didn’t expect to see the prince today. The landlady said the prince was going to come over! He was asking me about the property and I said everyone happy to get this chance.” 

The homes were built in just 22 days because they were pre-made by a company to the requirements at the site and then installed. 

“This is an example of a difference it can make to peoples’ lives,” Jayne Rotheroe, head of marketing and media, explains. 

Residents might have jobs or do volunteering and fell into homelessness through many varied routes. “They all have different worries. This has given them the chance to get themselves a secure place and access to the support they need and then move on with their lives progressively,” Jayne Rotheroe, head of marketing and communications, explains. 

“There is clearly a housing crisis in Wales and Newport has the highest rate of homelessness and to have the level of publicity that the prince can bring to this is important. We need to change the stigma around homelessness, we need to change narrative,” Rotheroe says. “And we need to do this collectively. It’s not just the housing association’s responsibility, it’s not just the prince’s — it’s governments, councils and without us all coming together, we’re not going to change this.”

Another resident Samantha Lewis, 35, showed William her apartment that’s among the 12 on the site. “Once I was here I could focus on my mental health. When you’re in temporary accommodation each day you never know what that day's going to bring. I didn’t feel secure at all,” she says. “We’ve got a lot of security here, and I feel safe.”

She became homeless following the breakdown in a relationship and lived for three weeks in a hotel and six months in a one-room apartment. “Him talking about this will change things. People will think and understand it more and not think ya people living on the streets. [People come from] different situations.”

Before he left, Prince William posed for selfies with Kharif and others, easily mixing with residents and executives from the on-profit. “He’s really relaxed and it’s good work what he’s doing. What he’s trying to do and going to see people who have been in situations like this will get the message across,” adds Lewis.

“He’s trying to find out how it’s affected us. We said more of this should be built and it was about getting our point of view across.”

“Hopefully people will start to listen and taking and reading more and trying to understand and not think homelessness is just people on the street. It’s not about that. This project will start to change peoples’ views and opinions."

And the prince was impressed with what he witnessed. “Well done, you guys. We’ll try to echo more of these around the country. You’ve done a great job,” William told the Linc Cymru executives as he left. “See you soon.”

On Monday and Tuesday, Prince William is set to tour all six of the U.K. locations where the Homewards project is taking place.

The royal started on Monday in Lambeth, a district in South London, where he visited the Mosaic Clubhouse mental health charity that supports people living with mental health conditions. He met Clubhouse members to hear about their lived experiences of homelessness and how Mosaic supported them. William also spent time with representatives from Old Spike Roastery, a specialty coffee social enterprise that offers a way into employment for those affected by homelessness.

For his second stop of the day, Prince William went to Bournemouth to spotlight a practical example of empowering people with skills that help get them into employment. He put his skills to the test at Faithworks Carpentry Workshop, which works to teach woodworking skills and techniques with the goal of ending loneliness, food poverty and homelessness.

Prince William announced his new campaign over the weekend. Homewards is a five-year plan led by his Royal Foundation, but the cause is something he's championed throughout his life.

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The Prince of Wales visited The Passage shelter when he was 11 when his mom Princess Diana brought him and his brother Prince Harry. Like his mom, William became a patron of Centrepoint, another homeless charity (even joining their sleep-out in London in 2009).

“This is something that means so much to him, and it meant so much to his mother. That first visit to the Passage has really inspired this work,” Prince William's spokesperson says.

“He has been across every detail of this project," the spokesperson adds. "It was the Prince who asked the Foundation to go away and look at how they could make a real impact on this issue, and he will be involved in every location. For him, it is up there as one of his most important projects. This is not for today or tomorrow. He is committed to transforming the way that we as a nation think about homelessness.”

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