The Prince of Wales is set to emphasize his enduring belief that homelessness “can be ended” as he commemorates the first anniversary of his ambitious Homewards initiative. T
his milestone will be marked by a visit to the London Borough of Lambeth, where Prince William initially launched the five-year campaign to address various forms of homelessness and reshape public perceptions of rough sleeping in 2024.
Over the past year, the Homewards initiative has established teams in six locations across the UK, fostering unprecedented collaborations among public, private, and third-sector entities.
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In Lambeth, one of the focal points of Homewards, William is expected to express his optimism and commitment in a speech, stating, “It’s fantastic to be back in Lambeth, where a year ago we launched Homewards and began our journey of working together to demonstrate that it is possible to end homelessness.
Homelessness is a complex societal issue and one that touches the lives of far too many people in our society. However, I truly believe that it can be ended.”
Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, the current chief fire officer for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, and a former homeless teenager, has been working closely with Prince William as an official Homewards advocate.
She shared her observations of the Prince’s impactful involvement, noting, “One of the powers that the prince has is to bring people round a table, to convene people who wouldn’t ordinarily come together, and I’ve really seen the impact that can have already. And I think just talking about homelessness in this way helps to reduce the stigma, it’s changing the narrative.”
Cohen-Hatton further reflected on her own experiences, revealing, “Having experienced homelessness myself, one of the most difficult things was recovering from homelessness, and I didn’t talk about my experience for more than 20 years because of the stigma. I’m already seeing that narrative changing because of Homewards and that for me is incredibly powerful.”
Mark Downie, CEO of the homeless charity Crisis and a partner in the Homewards sector, highlighted the growing urgency and hope in addressing homelessness. He said, “We are facing some really, really tough times. Homelessness is going up but actually, the evidence to end homelessness has never been better.”
Although the Royal Family traditionally steers clear of political topics, Downie emphasized the widespread consensus on the need to tackle homelessness, reducing potential political friction for William. He noted, “In my experience there are no politicians who think homelessness should exist. In fact, there’s a consensus that action needs to be taken, that we need far more homes, far more social homes.
All of that to me is non-political, and there’s an evidence base of how to do this which is non-political as well. I don’t know how the royal household and Royal Family navigate their political lines but I would say, if there’s a rivalry here, it should be a rivalry of ambition about how to end homelessness and that’s a non-political thing.”
Homewards is dedicated to developing tailored solutions to homelessness in Newport, three neighboring Dorset towns (Poole, Bournemouth, and Christchurch), Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen, and Sheffield, with the intention of replicating successful strategies in other UK areas.
This initiative embraces the principle that no single solution fits all scenarios, advocating for a targeted approach to meet specific local needs.
In its second year, Homewards will see each location publish action plans, ranging from focusing on families and young people in Sheffield to aiding people in care and women in Northern Ireland.
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