Prince William is “feeling optimistic” about his ambitious bid to wipe out homelessness in the UK by 2027.
The royal, 42, started his Homewards initiative to eliminate the plight of those without homes across Britain after being inspired by his late mother Princess Diana’s charity work, and has now opened up about the progress of his project in the second part of his two-episode documentary series ‘Prince William: We Can End Homelessness’.
William, who has children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, with his 42-year-old wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, said: “I think I’m feeling optimistic. I’m feeling enthusiastic. I’m nervous about the challenge and scale of what we’re going to do, and last thing you want to do is start something that you can’t finish.
“I’m not sitting here saying I’m going to sort of, you know, solve the entire world’s homelessness problems. But I am going to show people how to prevent homelessness.
“Providing high-quality temporary accommodation that will lead on a pathway to more permanent accommodation, allowing people to thrive, prosper, rebuild their lives and go on to be a part of community and feel like they belong somewhere. And that is crucial.”
William’s initiative targets six locations and is considered a cornerstone of his work as a royal.
He added in his docuseries: “Homewards is challenging the theory that we can’t do anything about homelessness.
“There is definitely something we can do, and we need the business community to be engaged and go, ‘Do you know what, on my doorstep, this is actually happening.’
“And it’s good for the community, but it’s also good for business, and it’s good for my business to do something about it.”
The royal told in the first part of his docuseries how he was aged around 10 or 11 when Diana took him and his younger brother Prince Harry, 40, to a homeless shelter for the first time.
