Prince William to be Patron of Centrepoint

Prince William is to become Patron of Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity.

This is the Prince’s first patronage, and reflects his interest in homelessness which he has held for a number of years.

As a child, the Prince visited homelessness charities in London with his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. Two years ago, with his father, William visited a homelessness charity in Newport, Wales just before his 21st birthday.

For the past two days, William has been volunteering at Centrepoint working with young people to help them talk about their situation and review their personal development plans, sort out their housing benefit claims and find more permanent accommodation.

Prince William said today: “I am delighted to accept Centrepoint’s invitation to become their Patron. I have always been deeply concerned for those people – especially young people – who, for whatever reason, find themselves living on the streets or without a proper home.

“Charities like Centrepoint do such an amazing job in helping to combat homelessness and social exclusion and I just wanted to lend my support to their remarkable efforts.”

Anthony Lawton, chief executive, Centrepoint said today: “It is wonderful that William is so committed to homeless young people and in particular that he wants to work with us. He is the same age as many of the young people we support and he gets on so well with them. I know that all the young people he was worked with over the last few days will think this is fantastic news.”

Today’s announcement comes as Prince William has spent the past two days doing work experience with Centrepoint. This will be followed by the work experience opportunities already announced: time spent learning more about land management, working with a number of financial institutions in the City of London and spending time with a mountain rescue team.

This programme of work experience will continue until shortly before Christmas. Long-term, a career in the military remains the most likely option for Prince William and further information on this will be provided during the autumn.

Prince William’s role as Patron of Centrepoint will be reviewed every five years, as will all subsequent patronages.