\n The Prince of Wales sat with sixth form students at Bourne Academy (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n Arriving promptly at 12:30pm, Prince William was greeted by excited and screaming crowds at the neighbouring Kingsleigh Primary school before stepping into Bourne Academy where he met with the Principal, Mr Mark Avoth.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Prince of Wales visits Bourne Academy, Poole (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n Also in attendance at the secondary school visit was homelessness charity Shelter and representatives from Bournemouth and Poole college. The group spoke in depth with The Prince about how they have been activating different support initiatives for students to provide them with quality education resources on handling personal crisis and preventing homelessness early on.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Prince of Wales visits Bourne Academy, Poole (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n Homewards is a five\u2011year homelessness initiative led by Prince William and is delivered through The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of\u00a0Wales.\n<\/p>\n
\n Launched in June 2023, it aims to show that ending homelessness is possible by making it rare,\u00a0brief\u00a0and unrepeated across the\u00a0UK.\n<\/p>\n
\n The initiative currently covers six different locations \u00a0including Aberdeen<\/a>, Lambeth<\/a>, Newport<\/a>, Northern Ireland<\/a>, Sheffield<\/a> and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n Homewards works alongside partners such as major retailers,\u00a0employers\u00a0and finance sector\u00a0organisations\u00a0to support the delivery\u00a0of bespoke initiatives to each area with a goal of ending homelessness by 2028.\n<\/p>\n \n In addition to its partners, Homewards also provide \u00a3500,000 funding to it\u2019s locations and, research partners that collect specialised data to evaluate problem areas and success measures across the initiative.\n<\/p>\n \n During the visit, His Royal Highness also sat down with organisations that are partnered with the Upstream programme.\n<\/p>\n \n Upstream works collaboratively with schools and communities to identify issues for young people such as school disengagement, poor mental health and wellbeing and family conflict.\n<\/p>\n \n It then provides early interventions and support to help reduce the risk of problems escalating in future.\n<\/p>\n \n \n Upstream achieve this through a universal screening process.\n<\/p>\n \n Young people complete the Upstream survey in their classrooms.\n<\/p>\n \n This identifies the individuals who will then be invited to meet with a member of the Upstream team to explore whether support would be right for them.\n<\/p>\n \n This support is individualised for them and their families and can include 1:1 mentoring, school and career advice, family support and mediation, or support with referrals and access to other services.\n<\/p>\n \n His Royal Highness then sat down with a group of year 12 and 13 students to discuss the success of the workshops that have been delivered to them through the schools partnership with Shelter.\n<\/p>\n \n \n When discussing the topics which are covered in the workshops with students, Prince William said: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things to think about and worry about, isn\u2019t there.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s not to add more burden to your plate, but hopefully it\u2019s a start to thinking about it before it becomes an issue.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cDo you feel that\u2019s helpful for you guys, has it given you confidence?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n Sixth form students were in unanimous agreement that the workshops provided under the Homewards coalition with BCP and Shelter have strengthened their confidence in housing related topics such as deposits, tenancy agreements, money handling and moving out.\n<\/p>\n \n \n Mohamed Jaber, a year 12 student, said: \u201cI did think it was just going to be another regular, boring PSHE lesson but now that Prince William came here, I think, like, it\u2019s actually real. \u2029\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s actually going to help me.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt’s going to benefit me in my future.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt’s helped me realise that there is more to school, I can learn more at school other than just tests.\u201d\n<\/p>\nThe Prince of Wales visits Bourne Academy, Poole (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
The Prince of Wales sat with sixth form students at Bourne Academy (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
Sixth form students from Bourne Academy (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n