Today, Monday 26th June, The Passage’s Royal Patron, Prince William and The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales launched Homewards: a five-year programme that aims to demonstrate that together, it is possible to end homelessness – making it rare, brief, and unrepeated.
This launch follows an event held last month at The Passage, where Prince William and The Royal Foundation briefed key partners on the Homewards programme. At this event, Prince William spoke of how fitting it was to be at The Passage, where he first visited with his mother Princess Diana in 1993 and his personal journey into better understanding homelessness began.
On the launch of Homewards, Prince William 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.
“I am fortunate to have seen first-hand the tireless work of people and organisations across the sector, the tangible impact their efforts can have and what can be done when communities are able to focus on preventing homelessness, rather than managing it.
“It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated and I am very much looking forward to working with our six locations to make our ambition a reality.”
The Homewards programme is the result of several years of consultation and research in partnership with Sector Partners, including The Passage, and many other NGOs, public bodies, sector experts and people with lived experience of homelessness. Together, we have found an ambitious but achievable way forward that could prevent and end homelessness.
It will do this by giving six flagship locations the space, tools, and relationships to showcase what can be achieved through a collective effort focussed on preventing and ending homelessness in their areas; utilising the platform of Prince William and The Royal Foundation to improve understanding around the issue and drive action and optimism that it can be ended.
The Passage is proud to be a Sector Partner of Homewards, providing insights into the scale and impact of homelessness, and guidance on best practices from a frontline perspective.
As a homelessness organisation, we know that to prevent homelessness we need collaboration and input across the whole of society. This is a societal issue, and it requires a whole of society response.
Mick Clarke, Chief Executive said:
“As our Royal Patron, Prince William has witnessed first-hand during his many visits to The Passage, homelessness can be prevented and ended for good.
We believe that everyone deserves a place to call home; during the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw with the ‘Everyone In’ programme what can be achieved when society truly comes together to address homelessness.
With The Passage being both a Royal Patronage and a strategic partner with The Royal Foundation on this programme, we are proud to support Homewards and look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with partners in the sector and beyond towards our shared vision of ending homelessness.”
If you would like to support the work of The Passage and help towards our vision a society where street homelessness no longer exists, and everyone has a place to call home – please donate today.
Alternatively, you can find out more about our services at www.passage.org.u/what-we-do