Prince William issues 'stop being scared' demand as he pushes for major change

Prince William is urging landlords to lose their fear of renting to those who have been homeless.

The Prince of Wales said there are a “wealth of people out there who want to help, but don’t know how”.

Still sporting a summer beard, he met staff at Shelter Scotland’s office in Aberdeen to thank them for their work in finding local people accommodation in the teeth of a housing crisis.

He aims to convince ­landlords and businesses that it is not too risky to help those who have ­been homeless. The Prince came with a mission of hope to empower “those who are homeless to realise their life matters.

“When you’re at your lowest ebb, you believe people don’t care and there’s nowhere to go...but there’s hope.” The Prince said his Homewards project aims to highlight hidden homelessness and the ­importance of early ­intervention to stop people becoming homeless in the first place.

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He talked to the team about services the charity offers, the size of the area they cover and casework they handle.

David “Div” Gibson, said he’d he struggled with ­homelessness for more than 20 years, while experiencing mental health and addiction issues. He had also served time in prison.

William, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, heard Div ­had overcame his issues, ­volunteered for Shelter Scotland and now works for the charity as a housing rights worker.

Shelter Scotland’s head of ­communities Dan Fyffe-Jardin said it was “fantastic” to see William ­congratulate staff.

He said the number of children “trapped” in temporary accommodation had doubled in a year, adding: “Our staff are superheroes.” Mr Fyffe-Jardin said Shelter also wants remove the stigma around homelessness: “To change hearts and minds about our broken and biased housing system, we need to change mindsets.

“When you hear from someone like Div you recognise that homeless people are not broken, they’re victims of a ­broken system.”

The charity is a member of the ­Aberdeen coalition of William’s ­Homewards project, which aims to end homelessness.

The Prince later attended a ­reception with ­Homewards advocates, broadcaster Gail Porter and Street Soccer Scotland founder David Duke.