Prince William wants to be a “disrupter” in the fight against homelessness. The Prince of Wales visited Newport, South Wales, on Wednesday (20.11.24) as part of his Homewards initiative – which aims to end homelessness by 2028 in six pilot areas – and urged business leaders and charity representatives to throw off the “shackles” of their experiences and look for different approaches.
He is quoted by the Daily Telegraph newspaper as saying: “I say that not to belittle you. But it, how do we break it down, gives you the freedom to think differently and try new things?
“I can be the slight disruptor here and say to you all to think very differently, outside the box, because this is unique, what you’re doing… let’s be really ambitious and almost throw the paperwork up in the air and see how it lands.”
During his trip, the 42-year-old royal – who has three children with wife Catherine, Princess of Wales – visited support service the Nelson Trust and he praised a woman named Rebecca who told how she had turned her life around after losing her father and partner.
The 32-year-old care assistant explained she had been through foster care and was living on the streets at the age of just 16 before attempting to take her own life after the deaths of her dad and her partner, with William noting she had been through more than most people “in their entire lifetime” at such a young age.
Rebecca now lives in a council house on a “broken housing estate” but is focused on raising her two daughters and “making happiness without money”, as well as hoping to help other “lost teenagers”.
Telling her she should be “so proud” of all she has achieved, William said: “You seem like a force of nature Rebecca.
“We need more Rebeccas in the world. You have been through more things than most people go through in their entire lifetime.
“I’m not sure I would have come out the other side like you.”
