Prince William visits local hub in Aberdeen as he launches homelessness prevention project Homewards

Prince William visited Aberdeen on Tuesday as part of a tour of the UK to launch a project aimed at ending homelessness.

The initiative, called Homewards, aims to make rough sleeping, sofa surfing and other forms of temporary accommodation a thing of the past as William tries to emulate Finland, where the problem has been virtually eradicated.

The future king visited local hub Tillydrone Community Campus to spotlight how co-located and joined up community support services can improve early intervention and prevent homelessness.

During the visit, he will be given a tour of the thriving campus where he was able to see a number of activities under way including cooking classes, NHS services and nursery sessions for young children.

Aberdeen is just one of six locations which will be the initial focus of the five-year project, where local businesses, organisations and individuals will be encouraged to join forces and develop “bespoke” action plans to tackle homelessness with up to £500,000 in funding.

William, who is patron of the homelessness charities Centrepoint and The Passage, began a two-day tour of the UK to launch his project on Monday starting in London.

The six chosen areas, which also include London, Bournemouth and Newport, were selected after a bidding process and the findings and results of the initiative will be used to create models that can be adopted by other parts of the UK.

Homes will be a focus of the programme, with each location supported to deliver an innovative housing project that will test new ways to unlock homes at scale within the location and beyond.

William, who was first taken to a homeless charity as a schoolboy by his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, previously 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.”

He added: “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.”