Earlier this week Prince William 
announced his plan to end 
homelessness in the United 
Kingdom. The initiative is called 
'Homewards' and takes inspiration 
from a similar program in 
Finland, which has nearly halved its
homeless numbers since 2010.
Under the Homewards program the homeless will be given a
place to stay before other issues such as drug use, joblessness,
or mental health issues are sorted out. Efforts will also be
made to identify those at risk before they become homeless in
order to offer assistance.

The project currently has 16 private sector partners across six
locations. Land from his private estate (Duchy of Cornwall)
will be used to build social housing. The job ahead is immense
with an estimated 300,000 people in the UK dealing with
homelessness. A number that is expected to rise with rising
inflation and energy costs.

Prince William credits the influence of his mother, Princess
Diana, for him taking on this cause. She felt the then 11-year
old Prince William should be exposed to how those of much
humbler means were forced to live and the experience seems
to have stuck with him. This is not Prince William's first
initiative to raise awareness of homelessness in the UK but
it is the first with the greatly expanded resources and soft
power that come with being the Prince of Wales at his
disposal.

As with any attempt at doing good these days there are
detractors. Most of this uninformed criticism focuses on
Prince William's relative wealth (much the same as people
who complained about His Majesty flying in private jets while
trying to negotiate carbon reduction). I think this misses the
point.

Once upon a time elites honoured the principle of noblesse
oblige even if they did not always live up to it. And it is far
better for elites to view themselves as having an obligation to
help their fellow citizens than for elites to view their fellow
citizens has a hinderance to their interests. The latter view has
infected the elites in the USA for many years and has created an increasing number of monsterous examples who I will not
discuss here. A country's elite should look to better the lives of the less fortunate and in this regard Prince William is setting
a wonderful example. 

​Of course some also argue that reducing homelessness should
be a government responsibility and royal action in this area
limited what government can do. Bull crap. Again referring
back to Charles, when he was still the Prince of Wales; he got
the wheels rolling on climate action long before governments
were onboard with it. Rather than squeeze out the Members
of Parliament and governments of the day I think it provided
both inspiration and admonishment to the political elite who
are ever-eager not to get too far ahead of popular opinion. By
making ending homelessness a royal issue it implicitly raises
the question of what the government is planning to do to fight
it. Now this initiative could fail or it could take longer to
accomplish than people thought it would (which many
wrongly count as failure) but at the end of the day Prince
William is willing to do something about homelessness and
that is to be applauded.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

The Prince's Trust Canada (which is
the successor to The Prince's Charities
Canada with the name change occurring
in August) has undertaken several
initiatives to provide books and teaching
tools in a range of Native languages.
Announced in June the goal of that
initiative was to have five different books
for elementary school age children, distributed in
the Woodland Cree, Plains Cree, Swampy Cree, Saulteaux,
Dene, Nakota, Lakota, and Dakota languages. 

The Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, His Honour the
Honourable Thomas W. Molloy, was present at the launch of
this initiative and stated that “The revival of Indigenous
culture and language is an important part of Reconciliation.
I believe that knowledge leads to understanding and
appreciation, and I also believe that Indigenous culture will
enrich our lives and make our province and our country
better.” 

Another initiative in September saw a 2017 project extended
with funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage to
produce a total of eight books, audio and video in six different
languages on medical topics of concern to Indigenous
children in hospital or ill at home. Distribution will be
handled by the Manitoba Children’s Hospital Foundation

Earlier this year the Prince's Trust Canada also took a group
of Inuit to Wales to learn about language revitalization from
the Welsh experience.

The Prince's Trust Canada (and the Prince's Charities Canada
before it) do good work that rarely gets acknowledged. It
continues to uphold the spirit of the motto found on the
Prince of Wales' coat of arms; Ich Dien, "I serve".

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Prince Harry was in Toronto today to
launch the 2017 Invictus Games which
will be held in Canada. The Invictus
Games is a multi-sport event for sick,
wounded, and disabled soldiers and
veterans. It was created by Prince Harry
as a way to "demonstrate the power of
sport to inspire recovery, support
rehabilitation and demonstrate life
beyond disability". 'Invictus' is the Latin
for 'unconquered' or 'undefeated'.

Prince Harry was inspired by the Warrior Games, a similar 
event in the United States. However, the young prince had a
more personal reason for wanting to set up the Invictus
Games. After the media leaked Prince Harry's deployment he
​was recalled.

Prince Harry shared the return trip with the coffin containing
the body of a Danish soldier and three soldiers in induced
comas. “It struck me that this flight was one of many where
lives had been changed forever . . . and put me on the path to
the Invictus games”.

The inaugural games were held in 2014. Building on the
success of the first Invictus Games the second and third
Games have been arranged for 2016 and 2017.

Countries participating in the 2014 Invictus Games:
Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France,
Georgia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Britain,
and the United States.

Countries Invited to the 2016 Invictus Games:
Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France,
Georgia, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Netherlands, New
Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Since Prince Harry's time in
​active service he has been
consistent in advocating for
former soldiers. He is a
patron of the Invictus Games
as well as Walking with
the Wounded. 

The Prince's efforts to help
military servicemen and
veterans is a much-needed
endeavor. Veterans in
Canada and Britain can rest
assured that their Prince will
not forget them.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

The Prince of Wales has announced
the creation of 'The Prince's Youth
Service Awards'. The awards consist
of the 'WE Are Community Leaders
Award', the 'WE Are Global Leaders 
Award', 'WE Are Social Innovators
Award', and the 'WE Are Agents of
Sustainability Award'.

The awards are for issues close to Prince Charles' heart;
youth development, environmental sustainability, and social
innovation.

Prince Charles' tireless work with charities and social causes
around the world speak to our future King's character. We are
blessed to have him.

Loyally Yours,
​A Kisaragi Colour 

News through the grapevine is that
Prince's Charities Canada is looking
for an intern. The position will deal with
communications. For further details
you may send an email to this address.
Prince Charles is involved in a large
number of worthy causes and this is
a good chance to help out.

                                       Loyally Yours,
                                     A Kisaragi Colour

It is well known that the Royal Family is heavily involved in charitable endeavors but it is sometimes forgotten that these endeavors, while consistent with the beliefs of the family member in question, differ from realm to realm. The charities the Prince of Wales has set up in Canada are a good example of this. So I'd like to take a moment to shine a small light on The Prince's Charities Canada (PCC).

From the PCC website's About page:

"The work of Prince’s Charities Canada (PCC) is focused on The Prince of Wales’s core interests which have been well-established in the UK for more than 30 years.  These include improving the lives of disadvantaged youth, education, responsible business, improving the built environment, regeneration of heritage, environmental sustainability and support for the armed forces.  PCC works with existing Canadian charities already connected to The Prince and facilitates new opportunities for charitable organizations in Canada and the U.K. to work together."

The charities that make up the PCC include nine loosely connected initiatives: The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, Aboriginal Initiatives, Campaign for Wool, The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur, The Prince’s Seeing is Believing, The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community Canada, The Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership, Learning through the Arts, & The Prince of Wales Award for Sustainable Forestry.

This program got its start in Canada after His Royal Highness’ visit to First Nations University in 2012. As a partnership between First Nations University and the Prince’s School for Traditional Arts the goal is to not only help students learn practical skills in the arts but also to explain some of the philosophy behind them.

Educational programs at PSTA including: 
-Traditional painting techniques 
-Architectural crafts 
-Ceramic ornament and surface design 
-Traditional geometry 
-Contextual studies

Recently His Royal Highness became the royal patron of Willowbank School for Traditional Arts as part of this initiative.

The Crown and First Nations have had a long history, indeed, longer than Canada has existed. The Prince of Wales wants to connect on a more personal level with the First Nations through his charitable work. 

Initiatives undertaken:
-Developing a partnership between First Nations University (FNU) in Regina and the Prince’s School for the Traditional Arts (PSTA) in the United Kingdom.
-Supporting an Aboriginal employment initiative developed by CEO participants of the Prince’s Seeing is Believing.
-Developing an initiative to provide children’s books written in First Nations languages to support literacy efforts.

As you may notice there is some overlap between these initiatives and ones under different headings. This speaks both to the unique place of the First Nations in Canada as well as the unique challenges hey face.

The Prince of Wales has long been an advocate for sustainable environmental & economic development (which earned him a fair amount of ridicule in his early years). As part of his efforts to encourage sustainability Prince Charles initiated the Campaign for Wool. A launch event was held in Pictou, Nova Scotia on Sunday, May 19, 2014 and included local sheep, farmers, artisans, representatives of the Canadian Wool Industry. The campaign aims to raise consumer awareness about wool as a sustainable clothing option. After all, most synthetic clothes are not made from renewable materials.

This initiative has already helped increased demand for wool and led to a threefold increase in the price farmers receive for their wool.

Entrepreneurship can be difficult value to cultivate not only because of the uncertainties with pursuing that path but because it goes against most people's work experience. Working in an office tends to instill a more rigid view than is desirable for starting your own business. I can just imagine how much more difficult it is like coming out of the armed forces where the rigid chain of command is necessary to keep you alive.

The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur helps soldiers transitioning from the Canadian Forces with the education, financing and mentoring needed to launch and sustain successful businesses. Prince Charles has a close relationship with the Canadian Forces serving as Colonel-in-Chief to seven different regiments. 

Outcomes include: 
-Over 31 businesses started since 2012 
-Three ‘Based-in-Business’ entrepreneurial boot camp locations delivered at Memorial University, University of Regina and a French language site at Universite Laval 
-70 graduates of ‘Based-in-Business’ since 2012 
-More than 145 participants have taken our one-day ‘Be Your Own Boss’ introductory workshops since 2013

From the website:

"The Prince’s Seeing is Believing (PSiB) brings corporate leaders face to face with social and economic issues, and demonstrates the impact that responsible business can have by closing the gap between the boardroom and the community. Run in partnership with the Wellesley Institute, Prince’s Charities Canada has launched a series of PSiB programs in Canada. With PSiB, C-suite executives take a day out of their offices and gain a new perspective on social issues. With a focus in Canada on disadvantaged youth, we are breaking new ground in helping to develop training and employment opportunities for a sector of our community that is often overlooked and marginalized."

Like the old concept of noblesse oblige this program seeks to remind business leaders that they do have a responsibility to the community due to their position. 

There have been six PSiB community visit days featuring 120 senior business leaders and 26 community organizations since 2012 in: 
-London, Ontario 
-Regina & Weyburn, Saskatchewan 
-Toronto, Ontario (3 times) 
-Halifax, Nova Scotia 

While there is a great deal of discussion about the environment (quite a bit of it from the prince himself) it is easy to forget the challenge of environmental protection is often very close to home. With this in mind the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community Canada (PFBC) works to encourage sustainable development and quality urbanization of the 'built environment' (ie. were people live).

The PFBC in partnership with PCC held a professional symposium in Toronto From May 13-15, 2013.

Prince Charles has often been critical of modern architecture and failures to preserve historic buildings. This initiative recognizes communities that make the extra effort to preserve their past.

Past winners:
Owen Sound, Ont. (2013)
Saguenay, QC (2012)
Oakville, Ont. (2010)
Edmonton, AB (2009)
Quebec City, QC (2003)
Saint John, NB (2002)
Victoria, BC (2001)

A rather interesting program that uses the arts to help teach standard school subjects.

Examples from the website:
-history through role-playing, 
-multiplication through songwriting, 
-math/geometry through visual arts, 
-science through dance & 
-language arts through global percussion.

Its been long known that there is a link between musical ability and mathematical ability and to try to create similar linkages with other subjects goes a long way towards engaging students (which really is half the battle).

You may be detecting a theme of environmental sustainability running through these initiatives by now. This award is presented to recognize achievements of young forestry professionals in Canada and to encourage sustainable forestry practices. The 2013 award winner was Jocelin Teron of Campbell River, British Columbia.

How the Prince of Wales sees his work.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour