Part of Questions to the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 17 November 2020.
I'm grateful to Llyr Gruffydd for that specific focus on the environmental third sector, also recognising of course that, as well as tackling and responding to the coronavirus, we've also had the flooding. And that of course has had a huge environmental impact, and the third sector, again—and the volunteers—rose to respond to that. But I think the £24 million to support the Wales voluntary sector has reached out to as many of those charities—not just those who are perhaps more focused on health, social care and housing, but also to those in the environmental sector. We have the third sector resilience fund—£1 million—that's helping third sector organisations financially through the crisis. And I think that's a key point you make, those who perhaps also have seen—many have seen a fall in their fund-raising, donation income. In fact, the fund to date has supported 112 organisations, with awards totalling £4.63 million. And I will get specific information about how many of those are in the environmental sector, because I believe those are the ones who we need to see take us forward, in terms of their crucial work, particularly tackling climate change.
But I think also our voluntary sector services recovery fund is about how we can move forward, focusing on reducing inequalities across society as a result of COVID-19, and many communities suffering disproportionately. Enabling them to look forward in terms of recovery is the purpose of that fund, which is also supporting many organisations across Wales.