5. Will the First Minister outline Welsh Government action to combat loneliness in Wales? OQ58032

Our strategy for tackling loneliness and social isolation, published in September last year, has been implemented through a £1.5 million fund delivering a wide range of local and innovative support. We will publish the first review of the strategy later this year, assessing progress and setting out next steps.

Can I thank the First Minister for that response? Since the second world war, society has changed, which has led to an increase in loneliness and isolation for some. Families are smaller and more spread out, chapels and pubs have closed and the numbers attending have fallen significantly, work has become more fragmented, with work in the local factory becoming much rarer. Some choirs and other social groups have closed. One positive that we've seen in recent years has been the growth of Men's Sheds across Wales, including in Swansea East. Will the First Minister join me in welcoming the growth of Men's Sheds and outline Welsh Government's support for them? And just to add, women are allowed in Men's Sheds. 

I thank Mike Hedges very much. The picture, I think, is a mixed one, isn't it? Many things have changed over the period since the second world war. Some of those things make loneliness and isolation more difficult, some things have eroded those factors as well. I think I remember telling the story on the floor of the Senedd once of my mother telling me that, in 1946, her friend had gone from St Clears to work in Carmarthen, 9 miles away, and she had a board in Carmarthen, because, in 1946, you couldn't travel those 9 miles on a daily basis. Now, you can speak to your relations in Australia on a Zoom call without it being difficult for anybody. So, while some things have got more difficult, other forms of communication have eroded the difficulties of loneliness and isolation, and there are important lessons for us to learn. 

The Men's Sheds initiative is one of those examples, originated, of course, in Australia. I know that Mike Hedges will be aware of the support that Swansea council, for example, has given to seven different Men's Sheds initiatives, using funds provided to the council by the Welsh Government, two of those in Clydach and Ynystawe in the Member's own constituency. They are only two examples of that initiative, which is to be found in all parts of Wales. Mike Hedges is right, of course, Llywydd; in Denbighshire, for example, funds from the Welsh Government have been used directly for Women's Sheds organisations, as well as Men's Sheds. Making sure that those possibilities are equally available to all our citizens is an important part of eroding loneliness and isolation across the whole of the population.