Prince William pulls his punches during Centrepoint visit

His Royal Highness has supported Centrepoint from a young age

The Prince of Wales visited Centrepoint’s Ealing service in West London today, to meet with young people supported by the charity.

The Prince will celebrate being Patron of the organisation for 20 years this year, having taken on the role in September 2005. His mother was Patron before him and she regularly took himself and his brother on visits to Centerpoint’s various services.

Centerpoint was founded by Reverend Ken Leech in the in the basement of a church in Soho, London, in December 1969. Since then, Centrepoint has expanded, offering a range of services throughout the UK and working in partnership with other charities.

21/01/2025. London, UK. Prince William, Patron of Centrepoint, during a visit to the charity’s Ealing service to meet young people being supported by the charity. The Prince spent time speaking to young people supported by Centrepoint and heard about their experiences and how the charity has supported them in rebuilding their lives. His Royal Highness then engaged in some of the sports activities the service provides, including boxing and table football. Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace

The Prince of Wales, Patron of Centrepoint, during a visit to the charity’s Ealing service to meet young people being supported by the charity. (Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

Homelessness is a subject William is quite passionate about, and one that he was made aware of from a young age.

In 2023, he launched his own project, through the Royal Foundation, to help combat the epidemic in the UK. Homewards, and the Prince’s belief is that everybody deserves a safe and secure home and to be treaty with dignity and respect. The aim of Homewards is to end homelessness in the UK, a big task but one that William is confident in doing. Centrepoint has helped advise the Royal Foundation on the blueprint for Homewards, and is providing ongoing guidance.

Centrepoint’s Ealing service has 17 beds for young people aged 16-25 who are homeless and provides a range of other support services, including employment opportunities access to education and counselling to help them to build an independent future for themselves.

2024 gave royal watchers the opportunity to go behind the scenes in The Prince of Wales’ efforts to raise awareness around homelessness and showcase the first year of his Homewards programme. The two-part programme followed Prince William launching the initiative, as well as included interviews with ambassadors of Homewards, and those leading individual projects across the UK to tackle the issue of homelessness.

Prince William played some table football alongside those who have experienced homelessness. (Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

During the visit, William met with young people who are availing of the services. He heard from them about their battle with homelessness and how Centrepoint has helped them to turn their lives around as he toured the hub and joined in a game of table football.

Bethany, who was made homeless at the age of 17 with a young child, spoke to His Royal Highness about her experience before going on to study at the London School of Economics.

Prince William said: ‘You are one of the shining examples of how Centrepoint can help people, can you tell me about the transition of how you came into contact with everyone here?’

Bethany replied: ‘It was close several times to being on the streets, but we were given accommodation that just wasn’t suitable for a young child. When I finally got into contact with Centrepoint they helped me so much with my life skills and everything that was going on with my situation that I was able to go to university, it was totally transformative. It was the safety net I needed and without them I do not know where I would be now’.

Prince William took part in some fitness exercises during the visit.

Prince William took part in some fitness exercises during the visit. Picture by Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

The Prince of Wales also heard from Nora, to whom he described as a shining example’ of the success of setting up her own business, despite experiencing homelessness. Speaking to Nora, William said: ‘That is truly amazing and quite a big deal to have opened up your own business so well done to you. We have to do more to help people as early as possible. It can be a steep curve upwards if you get the right support, but a huge drop off if you don’t’.

He was then taken outside to join a fitness session run, where HRH got stuck in to the activities. William didn’t hold his punches either, donning a pair of gloves to practice a few boxing moves with BoxWise Foundation. BoxWise has worked with Centrepoint for the last few years, providing boxing training and life skills. After the exercises, William mentioned to the trainer: ‘I might get back into boxing! It’s been a while, a long time actually, but it’s seriously hard work.’

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Centrepoint CEO, Seyi Obakin, spoke to Prince William about highlighting the prince of the need of ‘catching young people before it’s too late’ before they experience homelessness and how Centrepoint is always working on ‘identifying ways in which we can help early on’.

William noted: ‘This is it, and this is what I hear time and time again, the safety net that is needed. Because without it, the alternatives are very real and have huge knock on effects.’

Reflecting on today’s visit, Obakin called the Prince a ‘true ambassador’ for tackling homelessness. ‘We couldn’t ask for more. The more he takes on, the more he knows he could be open to criticism. People can say ‘oh you live in a palace, what do you know about this situation’, but he listens and he can be the change. Everything is laced with risk for him, whether the criticism is that he is being too political or stepping out of his lane, but we need him and we support each other’.

Today’s visit begins a busy week of engagements for William, and is his first visit of the year to Centerpoint. With 2025 being his 20th year as Patron, expect to see more visits throughout the year!

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