Prince William delivers powerful speech as he promises to end homelessness among young people in the UK | Royal

The Prince of Wales has vowed to “ultimately end youth homelessness for good” as he praised those who “inspire” him for overcoming rough sleeping and transforming their lives during tonight’s Centrepoint Awards in London.

Prince William, who has been a patron of Centrepoint since 2005, gave a heartfelt speech and called for change during Wednesday’s awards ceremony, which took place at the British Museum.

The heir to the throne said: “I am inspired by the ambition and commitment of all the winners and nominees tonight.

“What inspires me most about the young people here tonight is that they have not only overcome homelessness to achieve their personal ambitions, but they are all contributing to the communities in which they live, whether through teaching, fundraising funds or volunteering. .”

The event, hosted by Strictly Come Dancing’s Claudia Winkleman, aimed to highlight the courage, commitment and dedication of young people who have made significant strides in their careers, personal development and contributions to society.

William added that while homelessness is a “complex social issue,” it “can be resolved” through teamwork.

He said he believes this requires “a movement that creates systemic change” that “focuses on prevention rather than management” and “ensures that all young people have truly affordable options to live and thrive independently.”

He continued: “I’m delighted that Centrepoint is already making significant progress towards this vision. Its work testing innovative solutions such as Upstream Prevention and the Independent Living Program are examples of how we can create the change needed to end youth homelessness.

“I know that many of you here in this room are making this change possible. You are helping to improve the lives of future generations. We must remain optimistic about the progress we see and the success stories we hear.

“But to achieve the level of systemic change needed to end youth homelessness in the UK, there is still much more to do. We will only be successful in delivering this change if we work together.”

“If you have been inspired by the young people you will meet tonight, then please think about what you can do to bring change in your communities and, ultimately, end youth homelessness for good.

William was one of the evening’s awards presenters, along with Lady Kitty Spencer, West Ham footballer Jarrod Bowen, radio and TV presenter Yinka, his actor brother Kola Bokinni, actor Tosin Cole and BBC Radio presenter 1 Dean McCullough.

Winners were honored in six key areas of success, including the Rising Star Award, Centrepoint Partners Award, Educational Excellence Award, Inspirational Award, Personal Development Award and Independent Living Award.

Last year, the prince launched the Homewards project which aims to develop a plan to eradicate homelessness in all its forms, “making it rare, brief and unrepeatable”.

The five-year initiative has seen Homewards teams established in six UK locations – Newport, Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen, Sheffield and three neighboring Dorset towns, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch – with the aim of providing tailored solutions to problems in each area .

Although earlier this year it was announced that royal lands would be used to house the homeless, as William progresses with his £3 million social housing plan, which will see 24 new homes built in Nansledan, a suburb of Newquay and part of the Duchy from Cornwall. until next year.