From rough sleeping to advising Prince William

The prince will send the message that there is nothing inevitable about homelessness and that it shouldn’t be normalised.

When he meets Homewards representatives on Thursday he will say: “Homelessness is a complex societal issue, and one that touches the lives of far too many people in our society. However, I truly believe that it can be ended.”

Homewards is a five-year project based around six areas around the UK.

That includes Newport in South Wales – and as a 15- and 16-year-old that was where Sabrina was sleeping rough, after the death of a parent and problems at home.

Her way out was selling the Big Issue – “I credit them with saving my life” – and once she had secure accommodation she was able to get a job in the fire service, which became her career.

But she was able to tell Prince William and the Homewards project about what was needed.

“There were lots of closed doors in my face,” she says. Even when support was meant to be available, she says in practice it can be hard for homeless people to have the confidence to access it.

Or there can be practical barriers. She says she relied on her dog, called Menace, but many hostels wouldn’t let people stay with pets.

She went on to become chief fire officer of West Sussex and has spoken widely about her own journey, including this latest role as an advocate for Homewards.

Sabrina says Prince William showed a lot of “empathy” towards the issue of homelessness, which she suggested reflected some of the “trauma” in his early life.