2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:37 pm on 11 June 2019.

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Photo of Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay Conservative 3:37, 11 June 2019

Trefnydd, two points, if I may—two questions. Firstly, as part of Welsh National Opera's partnership with the Welsh Refugee Council, last week saw the performance of a piece of developmental music theatre called Beyond the Rainbow happening in the Wales Millennium Centre. That included a team with refugee artists and also members of Zim Voices—Members will know that I do a lot of work with Love Zimbabwe in my constituency, and they were also involved in this. From what I've heard about this production, it's done a lot to build up and develop links with refugees, and also to remove stigma that's sometimes associated with people when they come to this country. It's certainly had some good reports from Love Zimbabwe, and I'd be interested to hear from the Welsh Government what you're doing to support partnerships such as that with the Welsh National Opera.

Secondly, this week is Men's Health Week, and Dads Can Cymru are inviting people to support their campaign—not least by sucking a lemon. I will be taking part in this interesting ritual later on. I don't expect you to do it in the Chamber, by the way, Trefnydd, but I wonder if this would be a timely point for the Welsh Government to update us on what they're doing to progress the awareness of mental health issues, and, particularly, men's mental health issues. As we know, traditionally, men are less likely to discuss issues of mental health than women, and that's been a problem for them in the past. Organisations like Dads Can, which grew up as part of Monmouthshire Housing Association, have been doing their bit to try and reach men who are in this position. I wonder if we can have an update from the Welsh Government on what's being done to address mental health issues, but specifically with regard to men.