William calls for better systems and new approaches to tackle homelessness: Belfast one of six UK locations chosen for prince's Homewards initiative
The Prince of Wales is expected to declare that if “systemic failure” causes homelessness then “systems can help prevent it” when he marks the third anniversary of his project to eradicate the issue.
The remarks are due to come in a speech today marking the third year of his ambitious five-year Homewards initiative to create a blueprint to end homelessness.
There’s a Homewards project in Belfast, Northern Ireland’s capital city one of six locations around the UK chosen for the initiative with the aim of delivering bespoke solutions to the homelessness issues in each area.
Hazel Detsiny, executive director for homelessness at the prince’s Royal Foundation, said they were now seeing “green shoots and clear evidence of what works in practice to prevent homelessness”.
In a speech due to be delivered at an event later on Tuesday to mark the third year of the project, William is expected to say: “Homelessness is not an individual failure; it is a systemic failure. And, if systems help create the problem, then systems can help prevent it.
“By trialling new approaches, Homewards is demonstrating how prevention can be embedded across every part of our society.
“Proving that our true strength emerges not in isolation, but in a shared purpose that makes us greater than the sum of our parts.”
In 2023, William launched his Homewards project, which aims to make homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated”.
Six Homewards locations were chosen – Newport, Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen, Sheffield and the three neighbouring Dorset towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch – with the aim of delivering bespoke solutions to the homelessness issues in each area.
During the past three years, Homewards has invested £1.9m across the six locations through the Homewards Fund, with another £3.5m leveraged through grants and private philanthropy, organisers have said.
A further £2.3m worth of surplus goods has been used to furnish Homewards homes and 250 people have been supported into stable employment. In Aberdeen alone, 31 people are now living in homes created through the programme.
The prince is also expected to say: “The next two years are about proving that what works in six locations can work across the country.”
The campaign is a major long-term focus for William, who has said previously how visiting shelters with his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, when he was a child left a deep and lasting impression and inspired his work.
When asked what her meetings with the prince were like, Ms Detsiny said: “Punchy, I would say. But the question that the prince always asks me is ‘How will we know this has worked at the end of five years and how will we know it’s worked for long-term change?’
“If we start to change the culture, if people across the whole society think differently, act differently, work together, feel optimistic, then that will also be part of that sustainable long-term change that will spread to other places.”
She went on to say: “We’re not claiming that we’ve got all the answers.
“We’re only at the halfway point, but we are now seeing green shoots and clear evidence of what works in practice to prevent homelessness and how we can then move on to deliver at scale over the next years.”