I am Honoured and Extremely Humbled to Receive an OBE for my Services to the Homeless.

I am honoured and extremely humbled to receive the OBE for my services to the homeless.

There are so many people who have helped me on this journey, mentoring and supporting me and my family in particular deserve my deepest appreciation.

Today, as I visit Buckingham Palace, I shall be recalling how I met a man recently who had been in The Guards. Like too many other people who have served our country, he is now homeless. All it took were a couple of poor choices and pieces of bad luck to change the course of his life for the worst.

Like so many people experiencing homelessness, he was suffering from addiction problems and poor physical and mental health.

My personal challenge now is to take the great promise of the charity I created – Homeless Friendly – and see it expand across the country, improving health and even saving lives.

The recognition that comes with receiving an OBE will help that process enormously, though it will not distract from my vision of creating a society where everyone matters.

The fact that the life expectancy of a rough sleeper is just 45 years-of-age is abhorrent, and I will continue to work until homeless people receive the same quality services and respect from society as everyone else does.