Wino Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 I think Prince William has much of his mother’s compassion for the underprivileged. Good for him. Maybe his next project could be to come to Thailand and help the poor farangs, like the Swedish couple found on the streets of Phuket? By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer LONDON – A cold alley in central London is a far cry from a palace — but it was the spot Prince William chose to sleep to highlight the plight of homeless British teenagers. He spent a chilly night near Blackfriars Bridge last week 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. A photograph released by the charity shows William, 27, in the alley in jeans, a gray hooded sweat shirt and a knit hat pulled low. In a post to the charity's Web site, Obakin said the idea for William to spend a night on the streets — known as "sleeping rough" in Britain — was hatched in March. "He was determined, as he has always been, to understand deeply the full range of problems a homeless young person might face," Obakin said. "For me, it was a scary experience. Out of my comfortable bed. Out there in the elements. Out there on an extremely cold night, with temperatures down to -4 C (24.8 F). And it was the same for Prince William. But he was determined to do it." Obakin said they found a secluded spot — tucked away behind some garbage bins — and settled in for a restless night. "But there was no shielding from the bitter cold, or the hard concrete floor, or the fear of being accosted by drug dealers, pimps or those out to give homeless people a 'good' kicking," Obakin said. William is currently training to be a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue pilot. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_britain_prince_william Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 "But there was no shielding from the bitter cold, or the hard concrete floor, or the fear of being accosted by drug dealers, pimps or those out to give homeless people a 'good' kicking," Obakin said. Interesting, a Prince doesn't have a bodyguard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted December 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 If I were to bet, I think there were a few bodyguards close by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 That's a no-brainer. Of course, the heir to the throne would have body guards. That doesn't deter from what he did to understand the plight of the homeless. The body guards didn't keep him from being cold and sleeping on the pavement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 No good for him for raising awareness. Somewhat easier to be homeless in New York since the subways run all night long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rucus7 Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 Timing is everything, a member of the Royal Family sleeping amongst the homeless near Christmas time. I imagine it opened the hearts and wallets of many in Great Briton. Kudos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted December 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 Helping the homeless is a very worthy cause. I hope Prince William's efforts help bring this problem to the forefront. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 No good for him for raising awareness. Somewhat easier to be homeless in New York since the subways run all night long. Meant to say. No. good for him for raising awareness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted December 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 I am not sure how much money Prince William raised for the Centrepoint Center. The prince took over for his mother as a patron for Centrepoint. He is doing good work for this charity. Prince William may well have the cushiest digs in the UK, so what was the heir to the British throne doing sleeping on the streets of London, beside a group of garbage cans, just a few days before Christmas? No, Wills didn't blow all his cash buying that rumored engagement ring for Kate Middleton. The prince is the Patron of Centrepoint, a British charity working to end youth homelessness in the UK; he slept outside to raise awareness of the group's programs. According to a Centrepoint press release, Prince William attended a dinner for the charity in March and challenged CEO Seyi Obakin to up the ante on the group's mission this year. "In accepting that challenge, I invited him to share, for one night, the experience a young person sleeping rough on the streets of London might have," Obakin says in the release. "It did not occur to me that he would pick up that gauntlet. But he did!" The prince, his private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, and Centrepoint's Obakin spent the night of December 15 in sleeping bags beside the Blackfriars Bridge in London. By Obakin's account, it was a rough night; for one thing, the temperatures dipped to -4 degrees Celsius (about 24.8 degrees Fahrenheit). But it wasn't just the cold that made it a difficult experience. "We took as much precaution as possible," Obakin wrote on the Centrepoint web site, "finding a relatively secluded spot in an alleyway, shielded partly by a collection of wheelie bins. But there was no shielding from the bitter cold, or the hard concrete floor, or the fear of being accosted by drug dealers, pimps or those out to give homeless people a 'good' kicking. One of the hairiest moments occurred when we were almost run over by a road sweeper which simply didn't see our small group huddled together, which just goes to show how vulnerable rough sleepers are. I have never been happier to welcome the break of dawn!" The trio stuck it out until morning, when they rose and walked through West London so the prince could get a look at what Obakin termed the "invisible men and women" sleeping in the streets. The Prince told Centrepoint, "I cannot, after one night, even begin to imagine what it must be like to sleep rough on London's streets night after night. Poverty, mental illness, drug and alcohol dependency and family breakdown cause people to become and then stay homeless." Despite the economy, or maybe because of it, volunteerism is up in America. Prince William made time for it, and his brother Prince Harry is also very involved in charity work. We think their mother, the late Princess Diana, would be proud of her sons. http://news.holidash...ndons-homeless/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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