William celebrates 20 years as Centrepoint’s ‘proud’ patron with cake

The Prince of Wales said he was “proud” to be a member of the Centrepoint family as he celebrated the 20th anniversary of his first patronage.

William marked two decades as the youth homelessness charity’s figurehead by adding the finishing touches to a mural in the organisation’s new offices, and praised the charity’s staff for how much they had “achieved” in 20 years.

Centrepoint’s chief executive Seyi Obakin said that, when asked to take on a formal role, William’s response was he did not want to be an “ornamental patron” and since then has been “true to his word in every sense”.

The future King has pushed the charity to think what more it can do and was instrumental in helping it set up its vital helpline, Mr Obakin added.

William began his visit to the charity’s headquarters in Whitechapel, east London by cutting a three-tiered chocolate sponge cake made by celebrity baker Juliet Sear to laughs and applause by staff.

He told them: “Many of you have been here many more years than that and it’s an amazing moment to think, in 20 years, how much has changed and been achieved by all of you.

“The Centrepoint family is one I am very proud to be a part of and I can’t thank you all (enough) for all the hard work, every day, you give to help other people.

“It’s fantastic, and that massive cake signifies the love and the generosity and the time you all give to helping other people, so make sure you take a piece.”

William’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales, first introduced the prince, when a young schoolboy, to the issue of rough sleepers, taking him on private visits to homeless centres.

Diana became Centrepoint’s patron in 1992 and the prince followed in her footsteps in 2005 when he made the charity the first patronage of his public life, and at the time spent a few days working as a volunteer at the charity.

Centrepoint moved to new offices in the summer and William was given the job of completing a “Wall of Hope” mural in the organisation’s reception area, co-designed by a group of young people and artist Lanre Olagoke.

The artwork was symbolic of the home, with a heart at the centre which the prince filled in with orange paint and before picking up a brush joked “I don’t want to ruin your masterpiece”.

Mr Olagoke, formerly homeless who founded Art-Alive Arts Trust, said afterwards about the prince’s work with Centrepoint: “The beautiful thing is that his heart is passionately for this, for me that’s the key point.”

He added: “I did a huge painting of Diana, and if you look at the painting it shows this beautiful woman, you can tell she’s royal and she’s looking down and she feels compassion, how can she help, and William is following that legacy, it’s so important.”

During the visit the prince chatted to staff, young people supported by the charity and some of its award winners recognised for overcoming homelessness and supporting others.

Mr Obakin said after William left: “When I first met him as chief executive, I said to him ‘I’d like you to be patron for a very long time’ and one of the things he said to me was that he didn’t want to be an ornamental patron.

“He wanted to get involved, he wanted to understand what’s going on, he wanted to know how he can help and I can honestly say he has been true to his word in every sense of the way.”

During the visit William described as a “gamechanger” a pilot project called Upstream England that Centrepoint is running to try to identify school children at risk of becoming homeless and support their families to prevent a family breakdown.

Mr Obakin said as the prince left he asked for statistics about the pilot scheme, run in a handful schools in London and Manchester, and said he was “helping enormously to push forward” the project.

He added: “That’s an example of the way in which he not just gets things but runs with things, and makes things happen.”