Prince and former PM join forces to help homeless

Sheffield is one of six places to benefit from Gordon Brown and Prince William's new collaboration

The Prince of Wales's charity is to join forces with a charity founded by a former prime minister to help create homes for people at risk of homelessness in Sheffield.

Homewards, which is part of Prince William's Royal Foundation, will work with Gordon Brown's Multibank charity to provide surplus furniture from national retailers for several homes in the city.

Sheffield is one of six places set to benefit from the new partnership which is expected to see 250 homes across the country furnished with surplus stock.

Tim Renshaw, CEO of Sheffield's Archer Project, which tackles homelessness in the city, said the collaboration would "really help make a house a home" for those who benefited from it.

"Sometimes when people are given a home, they can actually feel quite depressed by how empty and lonely it feels," he said.

"As nice as it is to be given a home, it can be a bare shell. It's about the detail."

'Transform empty houses'

Prince William and the Royal Foundation launched Homewards in June 2023 with the aim of helping end homelessness, while Gordon Brown's Multibank is a charity which identifies surplus stock from businesses and matches it up with people who need it.

According to Homewards, over £1m of furniture and essential goods would be donated to "transform empty houses into safe and secure homes" in Sheffield, Aberdeen, Christchurch/Poole, Bournemouth, Lambeth, Newport and Northern Ireland.

A number of big name national retailers had pledged support for the project, a Homewards spokesperson said.

Hazel Detsiny, executive director of homelessness at The Royal Foundation, said the partnership was "a powerful example of major industry players, even competitors, coming together to tackle a pressing societal challenge".

More businesses across all sectors could get involved to help show "what's truly possible when businesses become part of the solution", she added.

'Overturn stigma'

Mr Brown, president of The Multibank, said the collaboration had begun with "a simple conviction that surplus goods should never be wasted while families go without".

"Companies have the goods people need, and local charities know the people who need them, so The Multibank is an anti-pollution and anti-poverty project at the same time," he said.

Mr Brown, prime minister between 2007 and 2010, added that he was "delighted" Prince William was "doing so much to overturn stigma towards those experiencing homelessness [while] working to restore dignity and humanity to people who need compassion the most".

The collaboration would provide "safe and secure places where people can thrive", he said.

Mr Renshaw said the Archer Project "wholeheartedly supports" the collaboration, adding that it was "really good" for homeless people in Sheffield.

While 250 homes spread across the country was not a huge amount, it was a "nice start", he said.

Mr Renshaw said that when properties were furnished and people "have the essentials to make a house a home", tenancies could last longer, as had been shown in a "successful" pilot in Aberdeen.

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