Prince William’s work surrounding homelessness continues with a special appearance at an awards ceremony connected to a cause he’s long supported.

The Prince of Wales, 42, attended the Centrepoint Awards on Wednesday, Oct. 16, celebrating the achievements of young people who have transformed their lives after experiencing homelessness. Winners and finalists alike have made significant strides in their careers, personal development and contributions to society, and the awards ceremony illuminates these individuals’ “courage, resilience, strength and determination,” according to Prince William’s office at Kensington Palace.

The royal delivered a speech at the event, as well as spent time meeting this year’s finalists — all of whom have been recognized for their leadership, academic accomplishments and dedication to their respective communities.

“Each of the finalists have overcome huge challenges and gone on to accomplish incredible things, demonstrating how much young people can achieve with the right support,” a statement from Kensington Palace said.

In addition to his speech, Prince William presented awards to winners in six categories.

Centrepoint supports thousands of vulnerable young people each year by providing accommodation, teaching valuable life skills, tackling physical and mental health issues and working to support them into education or employment.

“I am inspired by the ambition and commitment of all the award winners and nominees this evening. You should all be incredibly proud of yourselves,” Prince William said in his remarks at the awards ceremony. “What inspires me the most about the young people here this evening is that they have not only overcome homelessness to achieve their personal ambitions, but they are also all contributing to the communities in which they live — be that through teaching, fundraising or volunteering.”

“While homelessness is, of course, a complex societal issue, I passionately believe that it can, and should, be ended. Achieving this will require a movement that creates systemic change. A change that focuses on prevention rather than management. And one that ensures all young people have truly affordable options to live and thrive independently,” he added.

The Prince of Wales continued, “I am delighted that Centrepoint is already making significant headway on this vision. Their work testing innovative solutions such as Upstream Prevention and the Independent Living Program are examples of how we can create the necessary change to end youth homelessness. I know that many of you here in this room are making that change possible. You are helping to improve the lives of future generations. We must remain optimistic by the progress that we see and the stories of success we hear.  But to achieve the level of systemic change needed to end youth homelessness in the U.K., there is still so much more to do.”

“If you have been inspired by the young people you will meet this evening, then please think about what it is that you can do to bring change in your communities to ultimately end youth homelessness for good. We will only be successful in bringing about that change if we work together,” he concluded.

Homelessness has been a cause close to Prince William’s heart as far back as his own childhood, when his mother, Princess Diana, took him and his brother Prince Harry to a homeless shelter to learn more about the issue. Princess Diana was patron of Centrepoint during her time as a working royal, and Prince William followed in her footsteps by becoming patron in 2005. (In addition to his work with Centrepoint, Prince William is also patron of another charity that is working to eradicate homelessness, The Passage.)

In 2009, William even famously slept on the streets of London one night to benefit the charity, which started in the basement of St. Anne’s Church in London in 1969 and has grown to become the U.K.’s leading youth homelessness charity. In 2022, as he marked his milestone 40th birthday, William took part in an interview for The Big Issue, which supports homeless people — and even sold copies of the magazine on the streets of London.

In his opinion piece for The Big Issue, William said, “I refuse to believe that homelessness is an irrevocable fact of life. It is an issue that can be solved, but that requires a continued focus and comprehensive support network.”

In June 2023, William launched his Homewards campaign as part of the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Royal Foundation with the goal of ending homelessness for good. A statement from Kensington Palace emphasized that a central objective of Homewards is “to change the narrative and challenge negative perceptions and stereotypes around homelessness,” and aims to do this work through a five-year plan.

“In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and given the support they need,” Prince William said in a statement. “Through Homewards, I want to make this a reality and over the next five years, give people across the UK hope that homelessness can be prevented when we collaborate.”

“I am fortunate to have seen first-hand the tireless work of people and organizations across the sector, the tangible impact their efforts can have and what can be done when communities are able to focus on preventing homelessness, rather than managing it,” he added. “It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated, and I am very much looking forward to working with our six locations to make our ambition a reality.”

At the time of its launch, Prince William’s spokesperson said, “This is something that means so much to him, and it meant so much to his mother. That first visit to The Passage has really inspired this work.”

“He has been across every detail of this project,” the spokesperson added. “It was the prince who asked the Foundation to go away and look at how they could make a real impact on this issue, and he will be involved in every location. For him, it is up there as one of his most important projects. This is not for today or tomorrow. He is committed to transforming the way that we as a nation think about homelessness.”