Aberdeen is the only Scottish location whose bid was successful for the project, and it has been chosen by The Royal Foundation alongside five other UK locations which so far include Northern Ireland, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Lambeth in London, Newport, with the final location unveiled yesterday.

Over the next five years, Homewards aims to give these six flagship locations new space, tools, and relationships to showcase what can be achieved through a collective effort focused on preventing and ending homelessness in their areas.

Prince William met members of Homewards’ initial local coalition including Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Foyer, Turning Point Scotland, and Centre for Homelessness Impact, as together they start on the path towards ending homelessness in Aberdeen.

Homewards will support Aberdeen develop this coalition further, to include a range of committed individuals, organisations, and businesses locally and nationally who will work together to create and deliver a plan to prevent and end homelessness in Aberdeen.

He also met local residents who have experienced homelessness, to hear first-hand their experiences and how joined up community support services such as the Tillydrone Campus are vital to preventing homelessness in communities.

Lord-Lieutenant Dr David Cameron, who accompanied Prince William during his visit, said: “We are honoured that our city has been selected as one of only six Homewards locations that will demonstrate, over the next five years, that together homelessness can be ended. We are excited about how this unprecedented and invaluable project can build on local homelessness initiatives to achieve that goal.

“I was honoured to welcome Prince William to Tillydrone Community Campus today to meet with local residents who will ultimately benefit from The Royal Foundation’s Homewards project over the next five years.”

Angela Scott, chief executive of Aberdeen City Council, said: “I am delighted that today Aberdeen commits to showing it is possible to end homelessness by joining this transformative project. We are excited to be the only Scottish location and to help lead the journey to ending homelessness here and across the UK.

“Through the programme we will aim to achieve a greater understanding of homelessness within Aberdeen from both residents and professionals’ perspectives, which will help to break down barriers and ensure there is a willingness to have discussions about housing difficulty.”

Amanda Berry OBE, CEO of The Royal Foundation, said: “Homelessness is a societal issue and requires a societal response. By joining Homewards, Aberdeen underlines its determination to prevent and end homelessness in all its forms. We are looking forward to supporting Aberdeen over the next five years to do just that, helping to introduce new partners and create and deliver action plans so that together we can demonstrate that it is possible to end homelessness.”

Leona McDermid, CEO of Aberdeen Foyer added: “Aberdeen Foyer is on a mission to end youth homelessness and we are excited to collaborate with partners in Aberdeen and The Royal Foundation in solving this issue. Young people deserve to thrive and have a safe place to live that they can call home.”

Heather McCluskey, implementation lead at the Centre for Homelessness Impact, said: “We know that homelessness is both a personal and societal crisis. Homelessness is devastating, it is systemic and stubborn, and it can be cyclical.

“That’s why Centre for Homelessness Impact is very pleased to be working closely with Aberdeen City Council and The Royal Foundation to help focus on how homelessness can be prevented earlier and in more cases. This focus on prevention is particularly important now as homelessness presentations continue to rise across Scotland and the number of households in Temporary Accommodation is higher than ever. By focusing on prevention, Aberdeen can help to demonstrate a way forward to end homelessness, which means to prevent it whenever possible and otherwise ensure that it is rare, brief and non-recurring.”

Patrick McKay, director of operations, Turning Point Scotland, said: “We welcome the opportunity to support Aberdeen in working innovatively with The Royal Foundation to end homelessness.

“Turning Point Scotland brings more than two decades of expertise delivering progressive services in Aberdeen to this initiative. We are a main provider through Aberdeen Gateway Support, Aberdeen City Housing First and Aberdeen Housing Support Service with our staff and key partners delivering a holistic approach to reducing harm and preventing repeat homelessness.”