Mickey Ambrose receives a royal response

The Prince of Wales at a reception — The Prince of Wales – (Credit – Ian Jones/FCO via Wikimedia Commons)

Why Homelessness? It’s a question we all ask and Newham Voices has continuously highlighted this shocking problem and not just in Newham, of course it’s a nationwide issue.

It is estimated that more than 300,000 people – nearly half of whom are children – are sofa surfing, sleeping on the streets, staying in hostels, living in their cars or forms of temporary accommodation.

We all know the stats in Newham! And the issues facing the local authority were comprehensively covered in last month’s edition.

The Homewards Fund, supported by Prince William, aims to support the delivery of specific support to five locations and we have highlighted the issue in the hope that Newham, too, will receive support.

Each location has an Action Plan and up to £500,000 of seed funding will be available to each area across the lifecycle of a five-year programme of support.

Prince William with his team of staff at the Royal Foundation and Homewards Project considered a letter I sent to them highlighting the problems facing the homeless in Newham and sent the following reply:

Dear Mickey

Thanks for drawing your excellent letter to Newham Council on this important issue to our attention.

I will share it with the Homewards team at the Royal Foundation for their awareness.

Newham Voices will be following up closely to see what outcomes there will be from this initiative.

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