Prince William will mark what would have been his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales’s, 64th birthday this week in a special way. On Tuesday, July 1st, the heir to the throne will head to Sheffield to mark the second anniversary of his impressive Homewards programme.
The late princess was born on July 1, 1961. She died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, aged 36. Marking the initiative’s second anniversary, the Prince of Wales urged those working on his ambitious drive to end homelessness to “Keep going!” as he described how Homewards had started to “shift the dial” on the “mammoth challenge”.
He said his programme was now in “delivery mode” and he outlined his optimism it would lead to long-term change.
More than 100 initiatives are in place across six locations around the UK, and some 300 homes – a mixture of empty accommodation, private rentals and new builds – are forecast to be delivered through Homewards’ Innovative Housing Projects.
The first residents moved into flats in Aberdeen in March after Homewards brought together a local housing association, high street retailers and others to provide and furnish the property, and the first tenants in Sheffield are moving in this week.
Two years in, the project has also launched a new early intervention initiative in schools to identify young people most at risk of homelessness. The prince will hear how the Upstream scheme is working when he travels to Meadowhead Secondary School in Sheffield on Tuesday.
In February, William unveiled a new partnership with high street bank Lloyds Banking Group, which has made £50 million available to organisations tackling homelessness.
Nearly £3 million has also been secured for Homewards locations from partners and coalition members.
William launched his Homewards programme, which aims to develop a blueprint for eradicating homelessness in all its forms, “making it rare, brief and unrepeated”, in 2023.
Six locations were chosen – Newport in south Wales, Lambeth in south London, Northern Ireland, 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.
The Upstream school survey pilot is set to be rolled out to two other schools in Sheffield later this year.