My respect for the younger members of the British royal family has just gone up after reading how Prince William, second in line to the British Crown, spend a night last week.
A few days ago, Prince William spent a chilly night near Blackfriars Bridge with Seyi Obakin, the chief executive of British homeless charity Centrepoint. William has been the charity's patron since 2005.
"I cannot, after one night, even begin to imagine what it must be like to sleep rough on London's streets night after night," William said Tuesday. "Poverty, mental illness, drug and alcohol dependancy and family breakdown cause people to become and then stay homeless.”
"I hope that by deepening my understanding of the issue, I can help do my bit to help the most vulnerable on our streets."
William, second in line to the throne, was exposed to some of the hardships found on London's streets when his mother, Princess Diana, took him to a shelter in 1996. Just 13 at the time, William spent an hour at the facility with his younger brother, Harry.
Diana was well-known for her charitable work and the homeless was a group she was particularly close to. She had also served as Centrepoint's patron, a position she held at the time of her death in 1997.
As I have previously written on this blog, homelessness is perhaps the single, biggest problem facing our society. How can we even sit around discussing global warming, as the world’s so-called “leaders” recently did in Copenhagen, when men, women and children continue to die on the streets of the world’s greatest cities?
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LATE BREAKING NEWS - WINTER STORM KILL 100s IN EUROPE
Wintry storms and freezing weather over the last week have caused nearly 100 deaths across Europe, including at least 42 in Poland, 27 in Ukraine and 12 people in France. Many of those who died were homeless people who froze to death.
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Al Gore and his followers in Copenhagen can sit around fretting about how big a cow’s carbon footprint may be. In the meantime, however, millions of our brothers and sisters, spend their days and nights out on the streets, with empty bellies, without a pillow under their heads and with no roof to shield them from the elements.
Hell may not be freezing over after all and Heaven may not be burning down, but until we are able to feed, clothe and shelter those who have no sustenance, cover or shelter, then all other discussions are nothing more than an exercise in intellectual gymnastics. It may feel good to talk about global warming, but in the end, it is all wasted energy.
I applaud Prince William’s efforts to gain first-hand knowledge of what is like to sleep out on the streets. I hope that he takes his newly gained insights and puts them to good use. His mother taught him well, I hope that he continues the journey that his mom was not able to complete.
To read more about Prince William night “sleeping rough,” please click here: Prince William spends night on London streets
To read more about the Centrepoint organization, please click here:
Centrepoint
Don't forget, the Prince of Peace was born homeless...
1 comment:
debbie
thank you for this post
you are right ! while our presidents are spending time in copenhagen without producing anything , men and women are dying in the streets all over the world because they don't have any cover, food or home !
Thank you prince william thank you because yes what you did is a first step , but very often the first step is the harder ! yes your mother was a great woman and what she did was fabulous ! what a pity that she left us ! so continue in that way because people need it, they need help !
thank you so much
merci debbie
arc
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