Award winner praises ‘incredible’ William for homelessness initiative

A young person recognised for transforming her life after experiencing homelessness has praised the “incredible” and “genuine” Prince of Wales for his campaign to tackle the issue.

Shannon, 26, was presented with the Inspirational Award by William on Wednesday as Centrepoint, the homeless charity he supports as a patron, staged an awards ceremony at the British Museum.

Shannon, whose surname has been anonymised for privacy purposes, said: “I’m pretty much in awe. This is one of my favourite places to go and I had no idea that it would be this huge.

I think what he's doing is actually incredible. I don't think there would be many people in his position that had the power to do what he's doing

Shannon, on the Prince of Wales

“It’s been kind of surreal. It was really nice to meet the Prince of Wales. He was actually genuine and he actually wanted to speak to us. It was nice.

“It was surreal (to win an award), it’s very weird but I do feel really proud. I found out two minutes before the Prince of Wales came in, so I was standing there, heart racing.

“It feels really good. And you know what? I think it’s given me a lot of push to think about the future as well and the kind of things that I want to do.”

Last year, the prince launched the Homewards project which aims to develop a blueprint for eradicating homelessness in all its forms, “making it rare, brief and unrepeated”.

The Prince of Wales speaks during the Centrepoint Awards (Hollie Adams/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Hollie Adams

The five-year initiative has seen Homewards teams set up in six UK locations – Newport, Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen, Sheffield and three neighbouring Dorset towns, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch – with the aim of delivering bespoke solutions to issues in each area.

When asked about Homewards, Shannon said: “I think what he’s doing is actually incredible. I don’t think there would be many people in his position that had the power to do what he’s doing. I think he’s actually really pushing for it.

“I really hope (it can bring hope to others). I think it does for me and I think it does for quite a lot of people. Hopefully we’ll get to where we want to be and where he wants to be as well.”

When asked what William said to her and other nominees during their meeting, she said: “He actually just said to us that it’s such an honour that he can meet us, and that everyone’s come to support us today. So, we just said thank you and thanked him for coming as well.

“I’ve had dreams about stuff like this where people have come to support you and listen to your story, and what you’ve gone through. But I never thought I’d actually be here in real life.”