Prince William joins Homewards Aberdeen to recognise three years of work across the city to prevent homelessness
Prince William joined partners across Aberdeen to reflect on three years of progress and recognise the collective effort to prevent homelessness in the city.
The event, held at The Marcliffe Hotel and Spa brought together coalition partners, local organisations and experts through experience for a day focused on learning, collaboration and exploring how this work continues to evolve across the city.
Guests took part in a an interactive Socialudo experience, giving them the opportunity to step in the systems people navigate when at risk of homelessness, from housing and benefits to employment and support services. Together, these sessions helped build a shared understanding of the progress made, while also highlighting the challenges that remain.
Attendees also heard from a range of speakers. Dr Jeannette Forbes OBE, Founder of PCL and Chair of NEON Aberdeen, spoke about the role of cross-sector collaboration in creating employment opportunities for young people at risk of homelessness. Donna Hutchinson from Aberdeen Cyrenians highlighted the importance of the city’s Integrated System Approach and how strong partnerships are helping to deliver more joined-up and effective support.
David Kindness, Social Impact Manager at Robertson Group said “I’m most proud of the opportunities that we have created so far with homewards and making the connections with other like-minded businesses within the city who also want to help in this space.”
A musical performance by experts through experience provided a powerful moment of reflection, and an interactive exhibition highlighted work led by Grampian Regional Equality Council (GREC) and Celebrate Aberdeen to ensure lived experience remains central to decision-making and to challenge perceptions of homelessness.
Prince William later surprised guests by dropping in to meet some of the local partners and hear about the brilliant work being done to change perceptions locally and create employment opportunities for young people.
The conversations and insights shared throughout the day will shape the next phase of this work, focused on scaling what’s working and strengthening prevention across Aberdeen.
