How Prince William's Mission to End Homelessness Was 'Inspired' by Mother Princess Diana

The Prince of Wales kicks off his new project to eradicate homelessness by spreading the word with a tour of the U.K.

Prince William is kicking off his project to relieve homelessness as he builds on the legacy of his late mother, Princess Diana.

The Prince of Wales, 41, is spearheading the new campaign called Homewards that will be run over five years to find and find new ways to persevere over homelessness.

His ambitious plan will see six places around the U.K. acting as blueprints for different ways to beat homelessness. The six carefully-chosen places have varied challenges which require different approaches.

This week, Prince William will travel to the six locations and meet those who have experienced homelessness as well as local and national organizations that have vowed to help him and advocates who are helping to spread the word.

On June 22, he held a meeting at Windsor Castle with some of those who are joining him in his mission. And today, the Royal Foundation released a new one-minute film featuring supporters and people who have lived experience of homelessness.

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“In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and given the support they need," Prince William says in a statement. "Through Homewards, I want to make this a reality and over the next five years, give people across the UK hope that homelessness can be prevented when we collaborate.

“I am fortunate to have seen first-hand the tireless work of people and organizations across the sector, the tangible impact their efforts can have and what can be done when communities are able to focus on preventing homelessness, rather than managing it," he adds. “It's a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated and I am very much looking forward to working with our six locations to make our ambition a reality."

Homewards is a five-year plan led by his Royal Foundation. But, for Prince William, this is not just about the next several years — he is in this for the rest of his life and is rooted in his experience alongside his late mother.

Prince William visited The Passage shelter when he was 11 with his brother Prince Harry when they were taken there by Princess Diana. Like his mom, he 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.”

Those involved in the planning, from academics to charities in the sector and the Royal Foundation, are optimistic they can work on locally-based ways of tackling the issue. Once they’ve built on and developed the tactics, they hope to export those blueprints around the country and even abroad.

William also wants to change the perception of homelessness and move away from the stereotype of someone seen sleeping on the streets. It is as much the unseen situation of sofa-surfing or staying in a friend's spare room for weeks or months.

Matt Downie, Chief Executive of homelessness charity Crisis, one of the sector partners supporting the Foundations’ initiative, says 300,000 people are homeless in the U.K. every night. He is one of many homelessness non-profits backing the royal's initiative. Downie, and others, point to Finland as optimistically showing that homelessness can be beaten through the kind of collaborations Homewards is hoping to inspire.

And Downie has seen William at work. “I certainly can see the difference between people who want to associate for PR purposes in this issue and those who are genuinely driven by righting one of society’s wrongs, and I have seen that deeply with him.”

Prince William is launching the campaign against a backdrop of increasing scrutiny about the finances of the royal family. He alone has access to many homes, three of which he can class as his own: Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, Kensington Palace in London and Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Last week, he spoke about exploring moves to secure social housing to space on the vast Duchy of Cornwall lands that he inherited when he became heir to the throne upon the death of Queen Elizabeth. (His spokesperson says there is nothing new to add on that.)

“The Prince of Wales is in a very fortunate position, in that since he was 11 years old he has met people who have lived experience of homelessness, or people with addiction issues or mental health issues who are extremely vulnerable and he has been shining a light on that for decades,” his spokesperson says.

"He can continue to shine a light on it, or make a big gesture or do what I’m sure people would dub a PR stunt. But this is about creating a program that is truly sustainable and that will create systemic change in the homelessness system. And this is about changing peoples’ minds and opinions about what homelessness is," the Kensington Palace spokesperson continues. "This is about creating long-term change on the homelessness sector that will cut through and make an impact.”

The CEO of the Royal Foundation Amanda Berry says, “Ending homelessness is a societal challenge that requires a societal response. We are thrilled to launch Homewards and the Homewards Partnership today, to help us achieve this."

She adds, “We will bring together the brightest and the best partners to work with us and our six locations to demonstrate that together it is possible to end homelessness.”

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Earlier this month, Prince William saw an innovative new project providing new homes for 33 people set up by Centrepoint.

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