Prince William joked he had brought the sun with him as he stepped out in the Granite City today.
But along with the sunshine and smiles, his trip had a serious side with hard-hitting issues on the agenda.
The royal had two engagements planned, with the first stop at Shelter Scotland‘s office on Crown Street where he spoke with workers and service users about tackling homelessness in the city.
As a tanned William stepped out of his car, he was greeted by community manager Iona Rennie, who gave him a quick tour of the office.
William listened intently as staff explained their work across the north of Scotland.
He is a vocal advocate for the eradication of homelessness and seemed knowledgeable, telling those present that “early intervention is crucial”.
As he moved through the office, William stopped to admire a wall of photographs curated by Margaret Mitchell highlighting several service users in stark reality.
Some pictures showed figures in their new accommodation thanks to the work of Shelter Scotland.
William then sat down with two service users and one worker to hear their stories.
‘How do we change it?’
One service user spoke about how five months ago they were forced to live in a hotel room with no cooking or cleaning facilities.
They reached out to Shelter Scotland for help to get into suitable accommodation as it was beginning to impact their mental health.
They told Willliam: “I was offered a flat and went to see it. When I left I balled my eyes out, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
“When I moved in the first meal I had was beans on toast, and I will tell you, it was the best beans on toast I have ever had.”
In conversation with the prince, they said the stigma around homelessness remains and that as a homeless person “you don’t feel like a person”.
William responded with genuine concern, saying he hears the same stories everywhere he visits and asked “how do we change it?”
Dan Fyffe-Jardine, head of communities for Shelter Scotland, spoke to The P&J after the royal visit.
He said: “It was amazing for our frontline staff here in Aberdeen to meet His Royal Highness.
“The team were very impressed with High Royal Highness’ knowledge of homelessness and they had a great conversation about casework and building capacity in response to the housing emergency.”
Prince William meets Aberdeen homelessness sector
William later joined members of Aberdeen’s homelessness sector at a special “thank you” event at Union Kirk.
It was hosted by Homewards, The Royal Foundation’s five-year programme working to end homelessness, in partnership with Homeless Network Scotland.
Representatives from charities and organisations came together to learn from each other – and to share the important work they do day to day with the prince.
William spoke to a number of local attendees before taking to the stage to praise those in the sector for their “unconditional care and compassion”.
Anu Kasim, the local delivery lead for Homewards in Aberdeen, said today’s event was important for “celebrating” those who work every day to support people without “giving up “.
“That goes across the public sector, local authorities, prisons, but also at the same time, the third sector and the faith community,” she said.
“William got to speak to a range of people in a range of roles, and like he has said many times, to prevent homelessness you need all parts of the puzzle working together.
“To be able to see that in conversation shows there are players in all sectors who help. It’s about how we can further help them to join up and support what they do.”
William was ‘really positive’ during Aberdeen visit
Among those on the tables William visited were Elaine Sutherland from Osprey Housing and Fiona Paxton from the Scottish Prison Service who said it was a “really positive” day.
She said: “I’ve met loads of different organisations and we’ve just been sharing information and things we can look into in the future.
“Prince William was really positive, he seemed really interested in everything everyone was saying.”
“It’s been really nice to meet other people who can help us on our journey, and we can help them as well, Elaine added.
“He was asking us what we all do and what other help could be given to help everyone.”
Homewards advocates Gail Porter and David Duke, the founder of Street Soccer Scotland, were also in attendance.
“I’m honoured to support it and welcome Prince William here to recognise some of the hard work in Aberdeen,” David said.
“There are a lot of hidden heroes in the world who are working day in and day out so to to take time out of their crazy schedule to come here and meet who are using different
“Hosting conversations between Prince William and some of the frontline staff, he was asking what he could do to help.
“You can see that he’s clearly driven by making a difference which is refreshing and offers hope to the sector.”
Blue Light Card rolled out to homelessness sector
Ali Elder, from Bethany Christian Trust, said today was “an example” of what Homewards has brought to the city.
“There’s people here we’ve worked with for years and other new people in the conversation which will help with ending homelessness for good, with more sectors being involved and getting more awareness.
“We were sharing earlier some good news stories but unfortunately those stores can be fair and far between so to be able to have this recognition for the work we do is really important.”
William also shared the news the Blue Light Card is being rolled out to those who work in the homelessness sector.
After the event, chief executive officer Alidad Moghaddam said: “It was very humbling to hear stories from those who work in the sector and about the people they support.
“Their empathy and their commitment really inspired me and the rest of the team, not just in helping people survive and helping them rebuild their lives.
“A lot of people who work in the sector have lived experience is well so they have that empathy and understanding.”
Conversation