Photo: Kensington Palace
Two in three become homeless: William and Kate met them in Belfast
Two-thirds of care leavers in Northern Ireland experience homelessness within ten years. At The Commons in Belfast, the Prince and Princess of Wales met young people, employers and frontline organisations in the NEON network.
One in four care leavers in Northern Ireland are not in education, employment or training. Two-thirds experience homelessness within ten years of leaving care, and 42 per cent within the first two years.
That is the background to the visit the Prince and Princess of Wales made to The Commons in Belfast on Friday. There they met young people, employers and frontline organisations involved in NEON, the business-led network under Prince William's homelessness programme Homewards. The network helps young people overcome barriers through employment, relationships, support networks and opportunities to develop independence.
The first time they all met
NEON, the New Employment Opportunities Network, was launched in Northern Ireland in 2025. It was the first test of whether a business-led, jobs-first model could help prevent homelessness.
Friday was the first time the NEON chairs from all the Homewards locations in the country came together, with employers and frontline organisations, to see how the model could be scaled across the United Kingdom. Among those the Prince spoke with was Stephen from Belfast, who grew up in care himself, about the kind of support needed to get into work.
"I always think that employers want to help, they just sometimes don't know how to help, and you guys are unlocking those tools", the Prince told those running the network.
He stressed that solutions have to differ from place to place: "If nothing else from Homewards we need to make sure that point comes across very strongly, that every region of the UK has massively different ways and problems to tackle homelessness."
A church that became a community building
The Commons is on the Ormeau Road in south Belfast and is a church converted into a building for the local community. The couple were received by deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly, the Mayor of Belfast Róis-Máire Donnelly and MP Claire Hanna, and were shown around by directors David and Jill Hines. Several local craft groups had set up their tables inside the building.
Several hundred people had gathered outside in the rain. The deputy first minister joked that the weather was not playing ball.
Homewards is the five-year programme Prince William launched through the Royal Foundation in 2023. The aim is for homelessness to become rare, brief and unrepeated.