Prince William is helping those 'screwed by society' as ex-PM compares him to Diana

The Prince of Wales opened up on his mission to help those who have been "screwed over by society" as he celebrated the second anniversary of his homelessness initiative, Homewards, yesterday. During a visit to Sheffield, Prince William joined forces with Dragon's Den entrepreneur Steven Bartlett and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and spoke about how ending homelessness is a "team game."

While the Prince's determination to make a real difference is down to the work and expertise that he has poured into Homewards, he was famously inspired by his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who would take her two sons on charity visits to meet those who are less fortunate. And yesterday, the ex-Prime Minister made a stark comparison between the Prince and his late mother.

After he joined the Prince on the panel, he said: "I think he's changing people's view of homelessness and what can be done about it."

"Remember, his mother changed people's views on AIDS, his mother changed people's views on landmines, and I think he's changing people's view that you've got to think of a homeless person as an individual who has potential - who if given the proper chance, can actually make something of their lives, and not as someone to be discounted as a down-and-out."

Mr Brown went on to say of William: "He has got this huge convening power... so I think we're going to see something quite big here."

Homewards is focusing on six areas around the UK using scalable solutions to really make a difference - Lambeth in South London, Bournemouth, Newport, Belfast, Aberdeen and Sheffield.

On the day, which also saw Prince William visit a secondary school to hear about an early intervention programme called Upstream, he spoke about how vital it is that ending homelessness is a group effort.

"Partnership is the key in everything that Homewards stands for," the Prince said. "I can tell you very clearly it's a team game. Nothing happens without us all working together and doing things properly."

He went on: "It's about bringing as many people into the equation as possible, we've all got a part to play and if we all pull on those strings we can make a difference. Hope is very important. I feel less hopeful when I'm doing something things by myself. I think as human beings we all want to feel connected and I always think the greatest impact is when we work together."