Every night, 300,000 people in the UK experience homelessness, half of whom are children.
The five-year programme, called Homewards, will work in six towns and cities, bringing together organisations and individuals to find local solutions to homelessness.
The Prince of Wales admits “it’s a big task” and will visit each location over the next two days to highlight how he hopes to achieve his ambition.
Every night, 300,000 people in the UK experience homelessness, half of whom are children.
The reasons remain complex as do the solutions, but Prince William wants to prove that collaboration at a local level can make homelessness “rare, brief, and unrepeated,” citing Finland as proof it can be done.
It is his first major initiative since he became Prince of Wales last year, and one which pushes his political neutrality to its limit.
Homewards will be run by his Royal Foundation with the support of high-profile people who will help with the work. They include Sabrina Hatton-Cohen, one of the UK’s most senior fire officers.
Sabrina was homeless and sleeping rough as a teenager.
She met Prince William at Windsor Castle last week and afterwards told Sky News: “I’ve been really impressed by the prince’s personal investment and the way he’s acknowledged the human side of homelessness, and the way he wants to take a person-centric approach.”