Today is a very historic one for akt, as we welcome His Royal Highness The Duke Of Cambridge to our brand new service centre in London. This is the first visit to a LGBTQ+ youth charity by a member of the Royal Family.

The Duke Of Cambridge – a longstanding supporter of organisations working to combat homelessness - will officially open our new YouthSpace in Hoxton, learn about the issue of LGBTQ+ youth homelessness, and will meet with staff, volunteers and young people.

"We are delighted The Duke Of Cambridge has agreed to officially open our new YouthSpace which will greatly help our mission to prevent LGBTQ+ youth homelessness."

 Tim Sigsworth MBE, Chief Executive at akt said today:

 “akt is honoured to be welcoming His Royal Highness The Duke Of Cambridge to our new London service centre today, which is the first visit by a member of the Royal Family to a LGBTQ+ youth charity. We are delighted that he has agreed to officially open our new YouthSpace which will greatly help our mission to prevent LGBTQ+ youth homelessness. His Royal Highness will be meeting with akt staff, volunteers and young people and hearing about our work with vulnerable young LGBTQ+ people. 24% of young people facing homelessness are LGBTQ+, and 77% of those experience homelessness because of familial rejection, ejection and abuse.”

He continued: “The impact of homelessness is very damaging to LGBTQ+ young people, with high rates and incidences of mental health issues, sexual exploitation, substance misuse, HIV and sexual health issues. In this 30^th anniversary year of akt, and as the first charity in the world to respond to the crisis of LGBTQ+ youth homelessness, today’s visit from HRH The Duke Of Cambridge is a hugely significant step forward in raising awareness of this important issue.”

akt was formed in Manchester in 1989 by Cath Hall, an experienced foster carer, and founder member of Manchester Parents Group (MPG), who had become acutely aware of the rejection and ejection of young LGBT people from their family home and the homophobia they faced within school and society.  Since 1989, we have provided over 250,000 nights off the street and supported over 50,000 young LGBTQ+ people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.  You can find out more about akt’s history here.

Today’s ground-breaking Royal visit is an indication of the hugely positive effect of akt’s work with young LGBTQ+ people, and shines a spotlight on just how vital our work is.

You can find out about akt services here.

You can find out how to volunteer for akt here.