Prince William attends opening of Centrepoint centre in Peckham

Prince William has arrived in Lambeth for the first stop of his 48-hour UK tour as he spotlights local projects to prevent homelessness. The royal is at Mosaic Clubhouse in south London which supports people with mental health conditions living in the borough, with the visit focussing on breaking the link between having mental health conditions and ending up on the streets.

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The Prince will speak with Clubhouse members with lived experience of homelessness and hear how Mosaic has supported them during the most difficult times in their lives.

William will then meet representatives from Old Spike Roastery, a speciality coffee social enterprise that offers employment opportunities to the homeless community before he delivers a short speech.

Around 300,000 people in the UK today are currently homeless, with the Prince’s five-year project Homewards aiming to reduce these numbers and making homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated”.

The campaign will see six pilot projects be launched at different locations around the UK, with local authorities, businesses, housing organisations and individuals being encouraged to develop “bespoke” action plans for each area.

William’s Royal Foundation is providing the initial £3million of funding, with each location receiving £500,000 to kickstart the scheme.

The Prince was first inspired to take action to end homelessness when his late mother Princess Diana took him to a homeless shelter when he was a child.

He 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.”

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William added: “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 future King is Patron of the homeless charities Centrepoint and The Passage, and earlier this month he opened a Centrepoint youth housing scheme in Peckham consisting of 33 flats set at affordable rent rates.

He hs also met with politicians Sir Keir Starmer and Michael Gove as part of his charitable mission, despite the royal generally avoiding political involvement.

William’s advisers have said government involvement is necessary to ensuring the housing is built to scale.

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