William hears first-hand account of homelessness during charity visit

William met staff at charity Shelter Scotland’s office in Aberdeen on Thursday to thank them for their efforts to help people with nowhere to go and nowhere else to turn.

He talked to the team about the services the charity offers, the size of the area they cover across the north of Scotland, and the kind of casework they regularly handle.

He also spoke to two people who have been homeless, who told of their frustration with the lack of support they encountered before they were directed to the charity for help.

The first, David “Div” Gibson, told the prince how he struggled with homelessness for more than 20 years, during which time he experienced mental health and addiction issues and served time in prison.

William, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, heard Mr Gibson overcame his issues, started volunteering for Shelter Scotland and now works for the charity as a housing rights worker helping others experiencing similar problems.

Aberdeen City Council last month declared a housing emergency, which followed the Scottish Government announcing a nationwide housing emergency in May.

Shelter Scotland’s head of communities Dan Fyffe-Jardin said the number of children “trapped” in temporary accommodation has doubled in the past year.

“This is the sort of thing that our staff are dealing with on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “Shining a light on the housing emergency is really important.”

Mr Fyffe-Jardin also said it was “fantastic” to see William congratulating staff for their efforts to help local people into suitable accommodation.

“It’s absolutely amazing – all of our staff are superheroes on a day-to-day basis, they are right at the pointy end of the housing emergency,” he said.

“It’s just fantastic for our staff to have that moment and get a bit of recognition.”

Returning to a conversation the prince had with Mr Gibson, Mr Fyffe-Jardin said the charity is also working to remove the stigma around homelessness.

“Lived experience of the housing emergency is right at the heart of our work,” he said.

“Div’s journey has led to him being a member of the team – he now works in our housing rights team, which is amazing.

“To change hearts and minds about our broken and biased housing system, we need to change mindsets.

“You can’t do that with statistics, you can’t do that by Shelter Scotland telling the story, you have to get people to talk to their real experience.

“The reality is there is an unkind and unfair stigma around homelessness, and when you hear from someone like Div you recognise homeless people are not broken people, they’re victims of a broken system.”

The charity is a member of the Aberdeen coalition of William’s Homewards project, aiming to eradicate homelessness.

The prince later attended a thank-you reception for Aberdeen’s homeless sector along with Homewards advocates, broadcaster Gail Porter and Street Soccer Scotland founder David Duke.