Prince William gives landmark speech as he makes three major vows on homelessness
Prince William has arrived in Lambeth, London, where he will mark the first year of his ambitious project to end homelessness in the UK.
Prince William is marking the first year of his Homewards initiative today, as he attends a special event at the location where he launched the project 12 months earlier.
The five-year project aims to tackle all forms of homelessness, as the Prince firmly believes that the social issue can be eradicated once and for all.
In a speech at the event, William spoke of his shock that it has already been a year since the launch of Homewards and said: "I can’t believe it."
He then spoke of his determination to end rough sleeping in the UK, saying: "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.
"I created Homewards because I wanted us to look at the issue of homelessness through a different lens: to inspire a movement to prevent people from ever experiencing homelessness in the first place.
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"I know this will take a huge effort. And I know that demonstrating that homelessness is not an inevitable part of our society will take time."
William said he was "struck" by how much the Homewards team have achieved so far, as they focused on building collaborations between the public, private and third sectors.
This year they aim to introduce an action plan in each location that reflects their needs, with Aberdeen targeting homelessness caused by relationship breakdown, and Sheffield focusing on young people and families.
He vowed to "improve understanding about the different forms of homelessness, shifting perceptions and boosting optimism that it can be ended."
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Homewards hopes solutions identified in the six areas can be copied elsewhere.
Homelessness in various forms, from children living in temporary accommodation to rough sleepers in the capital, has reached record highs.
Government statistics published in April showed there were 145,800 children in temporary accommodation by December 31 last year, up by a fifth on 20 years ago when records for this measure began.
The official figures showed there were a total of 112,660 households in bedsits or hotels in England, of which 71,280 were households with children.
In London, 11,993 people were seen sleeping rough in the year to March, according to the latest Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain) statistics.
