Prince of Wales visits Newport to tackle homelessness in the city saying 'it can be ended for good'
The Prince of Wales is visiting Newport to launch an initiative to try and end homelessness.
The city, which has the highest number of rough sleepers in Wales, has been chosen with five other areas across the UK as part of Prince William's Homewards scheme.
Latest Welsh Government figures have shown there are around 135 people across Wales who are rough sleeping.
The Prince of Wales has been visiting the Hill Street Development in Newport, which is a community-driven project to deliver longer-term settled housing, which is operated by the organisation Linc Cymru.
Earlier he was also at the Maindee Primary School in Newport to find out ways local schools can play an important role in preventing homelessness. He was joined by former Spice Girl Geri Horner who is the charity's advocate for Homewards.
Prince William has said: “Over the next five years, I believe that we have a unique opportunity to develop innovative new solutions and scale tangible impact.
“This will inspire belief throughout the UK – and beyond – that homelessness can be ended for good.”
The Prince spoke about his personal connection to the issue, discussing how Diana, Princess of Wales made him aware of homelessness from an early age when she took him to the homeless charity, The Passage, in December 1993.
He said: “The visits we made left a deep and lasting impression.
“I met so many extraordinary people and listened to so many heart-breaking personal stories. Too many people have found themselves without a stable and permanent place to call home.”
Throughout Wales 1,757 people presenting as homeless were placed into temporary accommodation during March this year.
That's 248 more people than the month before, according to Welsh Government figures.
The Prince of Wales is calling on local businesses, organisations and individuals to join forces and create a "bespoke" action plan with up to £500,000 in funding to get people off the streets.
Newport will be among the areas supported to deliver an innovative housing project that will test new ways to unlock homes at scale within the location and beyond.
A bidding process will take place and the findings and results of the initiative will be used to create models that can adopted by other parts of the UK.
Prince William, said: “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.”
Joanne Cueto, headteacher at Maindee Primary School added: "For us, school is not just about teaching and learning, it's about the who child the wider family and community.
"Through the family support checklist we're able to identify what needs the family have. They might be needs relating to housing, they might be needs relating to other things such as mental health support and medical needs.
"The project is really exciting because it's now raised that profile within Newport. Through the project there can be a much clearer impact and long term benefit."
A new Ipsos survey commissioned by the Prince's Royal Foundation has revealed one in five (22%) of 3,473 adults questioned in May have some personal experience of homelessness either directly (9%) or via family (8%) or friends (7%).
The research found 72% of those questioned thought homelessness had got worse during the past 12 months, while 73% believed that ending homelessness was not given enough attention by society.
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