The Prince of Wales has unveiled his plan to eradicate homelessness, as he makes it his life’s work to ensure that “everyone has a safe and secure home”.
Homewards is an ambitious programme that aims to put six pilot locations on a path towards ending homelessness within five years. Prince William hopes to emulate Finland, where homelessness has been virtually eradicated, with the Homewards project which will initially focus on six locations across the UK.
The Prince, who embarked on a tour of these areas yesterday, hopes that the £3 million ($3.8m) pilot projects will create blueprints that can be adopted by any town or city, eventually ensuring that homelessness in the UK becomes “rare, brief, and unrepeated”.
This follows his wife's landmark declaration, earlier this year, that she was launching her “life’s work”, a project called Shaping Up that highlights the importance of early years development of children.
The Prince of Wales aims to continue the work of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who was patron of homelessness charity Centrepoint and regularly helped people living on the streets, as well as build his own legacy.
The Prince said: “In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and given the support they need. 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.”
Homewards marks his first major announcement as Prince of Wales, and forms a cornerstone of his work - on a par with his Earthshot Prize, a £1 million grant awarded to five winners each year for their contributions to environmentalism - and will be a priority for the rest of his life.