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11.07.24

Homewards marks first year of progress in Lambeth

Prince William’s five-year programme to demonstrate that together it is possible to end homelessness is today marking a year of progress across its six locations, including Lambeth.

Over the past year, Homewards has been working with Lambeth, as well as the programme’s five other locations (Aberdeen; Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; Newport; Northern Ireland and Sheffield) to form coalitions which will drive the project forward locally and build action plans to put each location on a trajectory to end homelessness.

In Lambeth, substantial work has taken place to identify emerging priorities vital to ending local homelessness and to lay the foundations, setting the area up for success by:

Forming a strong local coalition:

    • The Homewards Lambeth Coalition has 82 organisations and individuals.
    • These include the Duchy of Cornwall, the Church of England and NatWest, who are working collaboratively on the issue for the first time.

Identifying emerging focus areas:

    • Lambeth is focused on the role of the private rented sector, improving the use of data to underpin its work, early intervention and employability.
    • Each location is also developing an Innovative Housing Project which will test new ways to unlock homes at scale for those who already experience, or who are on the brink of experiencing homelessness. The Innovative Housing Project will focus on supporting young people in or on the verge of employment.

Securing unprecedented partnerships:

    • Homewards has helped to galvanise local partners to focus on preventing homelessness, bringing major landowners, private sector businesses and the third sector together for the first time.

Generating systems change:

    • Homewards is supporting Lambeth to make better use of its data to underpin its approach to ending homelessness, ensuring activity and resources achieve the maximum impact.

Working to change the narrative:

    • Homewards is focused on improving understanding about the different forms of homelessness, shifting perceptions and boosting optimism that homelessness can be ended. Communications professionals are working collaboratively across all six locations on a strategy to reframe damaging negative perceptions of homelessness.
    • Homewards will soon launch an exhibition with the Saatchi Gallery, which will include pieces created by children and young people at a series of creative workshops held across the six flagship Homewards locations, including Lambeth.
    • Homewards’ six flagship locations will also feature in an exclusive two-part ITV documentary series which explores homelessness in the UK today and follows the first year of the Homewards programme.
11.07.24

Homewards marks first year of progress in Lambeth

“Over the last year we have been working in partnership with six locations across the UK, bringing people and organisations together to create the foundations on which to build long-term change.  Inspired by our belief that is possible to end homelessness, we are already demonstrating what can be achieved if we all work together. We are immensely grateful to the committed people, organisations and businesses who are working with us to prove homelessness can be prevented and solutions found.” 

-Amanda Berry OBE, CEO, The Royal Foundation

As the programme moves into its second year, the Homewards Coalition in Lambeth will focus on turning collaboration into action, as they publish and begin delivering their action plans to show that it is possible to end homelessness.

To mark the first year of progress, Prince William is attending a special Homewards event in Lambeth, one of the six flagship Homewards locations. Today’s event will bring together representatives from the six locations, including Lambeth, as well as individuals from across the wider homelessness and private sectors. Prince William will hear about the work of each of the six locations before delivering a short speech in which he will thank partners of the programme.

Local representatives from the Homewards Lambeth Coalition who are attending today’s event include Matt Wilson, CEO of Spires Centre; Fiona Connolly, Interim CEO Lambeth Council; Jade Holvey, Associate Director of Integrated Health and Adults Commissioning at Lambeth Council; Joel Balkwill, CEO of Spiral Skills.