Britain’s Prince William thinks ending youth homelessness is an "achievable" ambition.
The 33-year-old royal is a patron of Centrepoint, the country’s leading charity for homeless young people, and he thinks it’s time the UK woke up to the extent of its problem with homelessness.
Asked whether it’s possible to end youth homelessness, he said: "I do think it’s achievable. There are 136,000 young people in England and Wales in need of emergency support, yet only 16,000 are officially accepted as homeless.
"It shows it’s still a huge problem we haven’t addressed fully. I would love the country to wake up to the issue. It’s complex, but it’s fixable. I do strongly believe that."
Prince William famously slept outside for a night in a London alleyway back in 2009, but he doesn’t think he can truly empathise with the bleakness of living on the streets.
He told The Big Issue: "I thought it was important to spend one night doing that, but I can’t even remotely pretend that I know what homelessness is like. I had a nice bed to go home to at the end of it. It did help illustrate just how lonely it must be if you had to do that every night, and the vulnerability you are under.
"I had police protection, and I had Seyi Obakin (Centrepoint’s chief executive) for company, but others face the risk of hypothermia, the risk of abuse and assault on their own."
Prince William reveals ambition to end youth homelessness
