Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 11 May 2022.
Thank you, James, for that question. And I'm very pleased as well to place on record my recognition of the fact that this is Mental Health Awareness Week, and I'm aware that there are lots and lots of activities going on, and efforts, to raise awareness. You'll be aware that we provide funding to quite a number of third sector organisations—some directly, others through the funding that we give to health boards. You're probably also aware that we announced further funding for Time to Change Wales a few months ago. We are now the only part of the UK funding Time to Change. So, we are investing significant sums of money—it was £1.4 million that we announced—to enable them to continue their really important anti-stigma work. And of course, we've all got a role to play in raising mental health awareness and encouraging people to talk about their mental health and to come forward for help. And our whole approach in Wales has been based on ensuring that people can get that help really quickly, without need for referral through things like CALL helpline, through SilverCloud, and to ensure that that help is available at the earliest possible opportunity.