Visits from royalty, the Major and Homelessness Minister

Duke of Kent visited Cromwell Road Hostel

Just like many of our supporters, The Duke of Kent first helped St Mungo's after receiving a leaflet asking for money. The Duke visited his local St Mungo's project, Cromwell Road in Kensington.

Cromwell Road is an excellent hostel to see the breadth of help that St Mungo's is able to offer homeless people. After his visit The Duke commented that he hadn't realised how much potential and achievement was present in St Mungo's hostels, or how great the likelihood that residents would rebuild their lives.

Boris Johnson visited St Mungo's emergency shelter in Southwark

The Major of London volunteered at our emergency shelter in Southwark, serving up dinner and spending time chatting to residents.

Charles Fraser, St Mungo's Chief Executive, said:

"We are very pleased to have the mayor's support and welcome his recognition that in order to tackle homelessness the GLA (Greater London Authority) must not just focus on housing, but on work and health services too. We look forward to working closely with the GLA to make any experience of homelessness as short as possible."

The visit followed a pledge by the Mayor to end rough sleeping in London by 2012.

Homelessness Minister Iain Wright visited Endell Street Hostel

Endell Street Hostel was officially opened by Iain Wright. The hostel has undergone a transformation with the aid of a government grant, and now provides residents with access to work and learning opportunities, as well as helping them to address mental and physical health problems.

The hostel also aims to forge stronger links with the local community through access to onsite facilities, including an IT suite, in-house training programmes and a recording studio.

Iain Wright MP said:

"Endell Street is an inspirational place, changing how we think about housing provision for the homeless and challenging others to meet its high standards. Tackling homelessness in the long-term requires new and innovative projects such as this and everyone involved with Endell Street will have a crucial role to play as we strive to end rough sleeping once and for all."