What’s happening? Prince William has announced today his five-year plan to end homelessness in the UK, which will be called Homewards.
Homewards will see William and the Royal Foundation partner with six locations across the UK to show that ending homelessness is possible. He then aims to scale this model up throughout the country and beyond in the long term.
Each location will receive up to £500,000 of seed funding to deliver an action plan created with homelessness organizations and an independent research partner.
National charities like Crisis will be closely involved as sector partners, as well as those with lived experience of homelessness or those who have worked in the sector for a long time and companies like NatWest, Ikea and the Duchy of Cornwall, will provide resources and investment into implementing the action plans and provide solutions to ending homelessness.
Criticisms of Prince William’s Homelessness Plan
Prince William said: “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.
“It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that working together makes it possible to make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated.”
William’s plans have been criticized by the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, who branded the announcement “performative”, adding: “Homelessness is a political issue that needs a government response.”
“The royals spend hundreds of millions a year on themselves. Until they sort that out, this kind of thing is hypocritical nonsense.
“As with Earthshot, this is a small project blown out of proportion by palace PR and the media. It will not tackle homelessness.”
Examining the Criticism of Prince William’s Homelessness Strategy
In December 1995, Princess Diana gave a powerful speech on behalf of the charity Centrepoint and described her experiences visiting organizations working at the “sharp end” of youth homelessness. “Every young person deserves a proper start in life, and those who have no family to turn to need to be able to rely on us as a society for the help and encouragement they need,” she said in a passionate plea for support to the media and donors.
Almost a decade later, Prince William made Centrepoint the first charity he became Patron of as he sought to continue his late mother’s work in his public life. And today, almost 20 years later, he aims to put the issue front and centre with an ambitious and significant new project to end homelessness.
“In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and be given the support they need,” William said in a statement today to launch Homewards, his five-year initiative. In words that echo Princess Diana’s, William said of his experiences, “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 can focus on preventing homelessness, rather than managing it. It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that working together makes it possible to make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated. I look forward to working with our six locations to realize our ambition.”
The Prince’s plan will focus on six areas of the UK that have been selected to pioneer the program and will be unveiled as he visits them across the next two days. Each room will be given access to up to £500,000 of funding, research and expertise to formulate a plan to end homelessness in that area. Multiple homeless charities and experts in this field are being brought together.
Alternate Perspectives on Prince William’s Homelessness Initiative
The project will be funded by the Royal base of the Prince and Queen of Wales, which private donors support. Kensington Palace said businesses including IKEA, Pret, and the NatWest Group have also signed up to give support. The current solutions remain vague, as the work has not yet begun. “We’ll be working with the areas to say, OK, what are your challenges? How can we help you?” a source working on Homewards told the media last week. When asked what makes this project different to previous efforts, sources pointed out that current work on the ground is often reactive, and many organizations working with homeless people do not currently have the resources or networks to forward-plan. Citing the convening power of the royal family, Amanda Berry, CEO of the Royal Foundation, said, “We will bring partners together who haven’t had conversations before.”
However, the Prince may also be criticized as the project launches today due to the optics surrounding his vast personal wealth and property portfolio. When he became the Prince of Wales, he inherited the Duchy of Cornwall, making him one of the country’s biggest landowners. Consisting of more than 50,000 hectares across 20 counties, the Duchy was established by King Edward III in 1337 to kitty the heir to the throne, who takes all the net profits. For the past few years, this has amounted to more than £20 million per year, which those who want to abolish the monarchy argue could be used for the public good if the Duchy system was disbanded.
