We now move to the short debate. This afternoon's short debate is to be presented by Jayne Bryant. 

Diolch, Llywydd. As we move through one of the most challenging global pandemics for generations, it's easy to see why some people might overlook the arts. They may not play an obvious role in addressing the problems we're facing, but it's so important to recognise how the arts have been integral to the mental and physical well-being of people of all ages and abilities, as well as bringing people together. Nothing highlights this more than the outpouring of community expression seen at the start of the pandemic. As COVID minimised our ability to socialise, people simply found new ways in which to show their gratitude—painted pebbles left on the street, artworks displayed in window upon window, street singalongs, amongst others, to give thanks to our NHS, social care staff and key workers. All are expressions that use our creative skills, and we've seen art and music continue to inspire people in this—people designing and making face masks, for example, and the wonderful Prosecco and Purls knitting and crochet group, who have been busy throughout the pandemic creating a magic garden in Caerleon in support of St David's hospice foundation and also bringing a ray of hope and fun to the village.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

Whilst these expressions have been positive, it is undeniable that this sudden change of our usual way of life can be very worrying and has taken a profound toll on our mental health. Arts have been used to depict this too. We've seen groups like the Newport Youth Council tackle these problems through art, with a powerful video about how lockdown restrictions impacted them. Many studies have shown that engagement with artistic activities, either as an observer or a participant, can enhance a person's mood, as well as other psychological benefits by releasing natural endorphins around the body. A University College London study tracked weekly a cohort of 72,000 adults across the UK. It found that people who spent 30 minutes or more each day, during the pandemic, on arts activities like reading for pleasure, listening to music or engaging in a creative hobby have lower reported rates of depression and anxiety and greater life satisfaction. Simply put, if ever there was a year for us to all get creative, then 2020 has most certainly been that year.

It's particularly cruel, then, that our arts sector has been profoundly hit by the impact of COVID. Health measures such as social distancing and restrictions on group gatherings have seen our traditional art outlets limited or closed. Public facilities and essential services, where many escape the feelings of isolation or found solace in being creative, have struggled. Our theatres, music venues, dance schools, museums, art galleries and community centres, even choirs, bands and art classes, have all had to severely restrict their activities. They've been working hard to keep people in touch, and some events, such as the Hay winter festival and Newport's Art on the Hill will go ahead, albeit in a very different way. They rely on people getting together, so the arts have faced some of the most hard-hitting structural challenges of any industry. The Senedd's Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee has found that Wales risks losing an entire generation of artists and undoing years of positive work and investment. I'm grateful that the Welsh Government are helping those in this sector through the cultural recovery fund, but we must continue to drive this support, as it's crucial that we do all we can to ensure that they're still there in a post-COVID world.

Like many industries, it's been encouraging to see how organisations have rapidly established new ways of working and how many have strived to reach out to communities that they can no longer visit in person. This can be done in more traditional ways, but also, by adapting and using new technologies, we can use the arts to help maintain good mental health and well-being. There are so many examples of good practice around Wales, and I wanted to use my time today to highlight just some of the great work being done here.

The Head4Arts programme Head4 Health have been working with voluntary community organisations offering creative experiences remotely for those most in need, such as those who don't have access to the internet. This includes offering craft packs, included in doorstep drop-offs, and communicating with older people by post and telephone. Impelo@HOME in Powys offers care homes and day centres that support adults with disabilities DVDs to address problems with accessing services online. This programme was launched directly from community feedback saying they wanted to dance with the practitioners doing similar classes to the ones they used to attend. Lost in Art, a project for people living with dementia created by Denbighshire Leisure, offers those living in the community with dementia materials, packs delivered to their doorsteps, a weekly tutorial film e-mailed to them, and offers two phone calls a week—one landline, one FaceTime or WhatsApp call—to support members in their creative practice. Many arts organisations and practitioners have also switched to delivering services online, and have been able to implement classes using online platforms such as Zoom, YouTube and social media.

Online engagement is proving to be an effective way to ensure people remain connected to each other and still engage in creative activity. Examples include Ballet Cymru, based in Newport. There's a lot of exciting work on their social media channels, video tutorials for students, interviews, pointe classes, stretching and relaxation, strength exercises and a weekly showing of past productions. In collaboration with Jukebox Collective, NEW Dance, Dawns i Bawb, Arts Care Gofal Celf and Impelo, they have all been continuing and supporting their nationwide Duets programme. They've also been delivering work to vulnerable children on a programme through Zoom.

Rubicon Dance, based in Cardiff, encourages people to take part in dance, including families, children and young people, disabled people, the elderly, patients in hospital, stroke survivors and people living with dementia. Since March, and in response to the COVID crisis, Rubicon has maintained weekly social contact with their 2,000 regular participants. Led by demand to keep dancing, they have had to rapidly rethink how they deliver what they do, especially for people who have a range of communication and IT barriers. They're using a number of ways to do that, as is appropriate to the needs of the participants, including telephone, text, Zoom, Facebook chats. They're currently delivering 63 weekly online dance sessions, and from the feedback they've received, taking part in these weekly sessions is keeping people mobile, improving fitness and overall well-being. One participant described how COVID had made her feel that she had been marooned on an island and that her weekly Rubicon sessions are what kept her going.

The Forget-me-not Chorus is a fantastic example of a charity working with people living with dementia and their families, bringing them together to sing. To see the impact on those in the Forget-me-not Chorus is something very special. The connection between people, moving to the music and singing is wonderful, plus the pure pleasure that is evident is something that can't be bought. Throughout the pandemic, Forget-me-not Chorus have moved their programmes online, and they've been able to reach even more people living with dementia through their virtual films, as well as their care home and community Zoom sessions. Their virtual rehearsals have been accessed by over 70 homes across Wales, and they're now contacting care homes in England to offer their free resources. On top of all this, they've just completed the filming of four new virtual rehearsals, including favourites like the Hokey Cokey, which, in their words, will encourage staff and residents to, 'Sing and shake it all about'. Thanks to the power of Zoom, they're now welcoming people from as far afield as Devon and Cumbria to take part.

I'm especially glad to hear of the efforts by arts organisations to support those people who are living in care homes. They've been hard-hit by the pandemic. Limited visiting has been tough on residents and families alike, and in terms of activities, many relied on outside organisations coming in and delivering weekly classes, the benefit of which, I believe, are undeniable. Members may have seen a video that recently went viral on social media platforms. It's of a former prima ballet dancer with Alzheimer's remembering the music she used to dance to. Marta González can be seen to immediately recognise the sound of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Listening to it from her wheelchair, she begins to dance along with her arms. It's incredibly poignant, demonstrating the power of music and dance.

I know Welsh Government recognise the importance of online connectivity for older people, and hundreds of digital devices were rolled out to care homes across Wales earlier this year. This is going to play a really important role in keeping residents connected to their families and communities. However, while many services have been able to move online, there's a risk of increasing a digital divide for those people who simply don't have the infrastructure, skills or financial flexibilities to have the internet at home.

It's so important, therefore, that we continue to deliver better digital infrastructure across Wales to support inclusivity and to provide the training and skills to those who need it. Over recent years, there's been a growing understanding of the impact that taking part in the arts can have on health and well-being. By supplementing medicine and care, the arts can improve the health of people who experience mental or physical health problems. Growing Space, which is based in the grounds of Newport's Tredegar House, involves horticultural therapy and training to support people with their mental health. During the pandemic, the workers have gone above and beyond to support Growing Space's participants. Mark Richardson, the 'Open Spaces, Open Minds' community development officer, created a WhatsApp group to allow participants to keep in contact with each other as well as staff. Using this medium, and other digital methods such as puzzles, quizzes, creative writing and many more activities were put on each day to make sure they had all the support they need. Lee Davies, the carpentry supervisor, made hundreds of items for the NHS. He also made items for the mental health teams to add to their well-being packs, such as self-assembly bird boxes, as well as other items to give patients creative activities on many of the psychiatric wards across Gwent.

These examples show that arts can be of major importance in building the mental and physical health of all citizens. As chair of the cross-party group on arts and health, I was pleased that the Welsh NHS Confederation and the Arts Council of Wales renewed their memorandum of understanding recently, demonstrating their commitment to embed arts and health initiatives across the NHS in Wales. It's this type of work that I would like to see incorporated in the Welsh Government's 'build back better' approach to COVID. It will be important to keep building on the really positive work that's clearly going on, and look beyond the pandemic to ensure these initiatives are a core part of Wales's preventative approach to health and care for the future.

We need to come through this crisis by maintaining our well-being as best we can. The arts are vital for that now, and they will be vital for that in the future. The value and importance of this sector cannot be understated. The benefits are immense. If we lose or fail to utilise these skills, we'll be tremendously poorer for it. I've highlighted a few of the projects going on today in Wales, and there are so many more, so many that you could cover a map of Wales with them. The arts play a crucial role in our mental and physical well-being. They can help reduce inequalities and if we harness their power, they can help Wales heal from the pandemic.

Here in Wales, music, art and culture is part of our make-up. In our own national anthem, we're identified as being a land of poets and musicians. Long may that continue. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you. Can I call on the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism to reply to the debate? Dafydd Elis-Thomas.

Diolch yn fawr, Jayne. That was an inspirational address that summed up so much of the cultural activity that is taking place now in Wales, and I'm so glad that you've put it on the Record for the future.

So, may I thank Jayne for that address? May I also thank her for her support for the arts and the importance of the arts in the political life of Wales throughout her period as an Assembly Member? I'd also like to thank her for referring to the range of activities happening around Newport, and I've been pleased to have the opportunity to join her in visiting some of the centres that she made mention of, and I do acknowledge the importance of Newport and the activities happening there.

But the commitment I'd like to make to her in responding to this debate is that I agree entirely with her that we have discovered a new way of working and a new way of understanding the purpose of the arts in our society—something that we cannot afford to forget. That's why it's been so important for me to see the great response there has been to the cultural recovery fund, as I mentioned earlier this afternoon, and to the additional package of support through the arts resilience fund, which has actually run out of funding and we are seeking additional funds in order to ensure that we can continue to respond to the applications that we receive.

The Welsh Government will continue to support the sector to reopen by using the arts as a key to come out of lockdown, because the awareness raised through the arts has proved to be crucial to people during this period of crisis. And although our theatres and concert halls have been closed, people have discovered new and different means of communicating through the arts. And when the public health situation allows, I am sure that these new approaches will continue to be adopted as well as the traditional methods that haven’t been possible during this period. Our programme of test events that we put forward as a Government were postponed in September, but the plan is still in place. It is a clear plan to reopen, and we will develop that learning from the clear efforts that are being made on a voluntary basis in our communities.

I’m grateful for the collaboration that there’s been between the health department within the Welsh Government and the arts council on social prescribing, I’m also grateful for all of the innovative work that Jayne referred to, which includes all of those companies and organisations that she mentioned: Heart of Cardiff from the Sherman Theatre; the National Dance Company Wales and the Dance for Parkinson’s sessions, which have been held online and on Zoom, of course; and the work of Cwmni Theatr Arad Coch in engaging with schools using digital resources during lockdown. And the Celf ar y Cyd project has been very impressive for me. It’s a project between the arts council and the National Museum Wales, with Welsh Government support, in order that people see the arts in our hospitals and that that becomes part of the role that the arts can play in health.

Another further success I should refer to before I conclude my response is Swansea Bay’s digital storytelling project, which is now being rolled out across other NHS boards in Wales. This project allows those who are unwell to create a digital patient story as part of the health board’s commitment to listen and to learn from their experiences. And these new ways of working will remain with us for the future.

So, thank you for all the good work done by the arts council in collaborating, as Jayne said, and working with the health service, and that collaboration between health and the arts. And the Welsh Government is committed to continuing with this work, not as long as necessary so that we come out of this crisis, but as a practical way of operating from here on in. Because of my background, I have been arguing over the years that there is a particular role for the arts, and it could be difficult. People would say, ‘Well, what can the arts deliver?’ Nobody is saying that today. So, thank you to Jayne for putting all of this on the Record this afternoon. Thank you to Members for the debate that we had earlier this afternoon. And taking nothing away from what I have said already, I have to say one further thing: not only am I Minister for the arts but I am also Minister for sport, so may I wish Gareth Bale and the rest of the team the best of luck this evening? Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. That brings today’s proceedings to a close. Thank you.

The meeting ended at 18:25.