I've expressed my desire for our cultural sponsored bodies to work in collaboration to increase their impact in this area. Members will be aware that the Arts Council of Wales and Amgueddfa Cymru—National Museum Wales have co-produced a widening engagement action plan, with actions now embedded into both organisations' operational and strategic equality plans. People's Collection Wales, a federated partnership between Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Library of Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, has published a charter for decolonising the collection.

Of course, while collaboration between organisations is important, collaboration and co-production with the ethnic minority communities themselves is crucial to developing this work and implementing change that will have a real impact. I am pleased to see our organisations focusing on this; for example, the Arts Council of Wales has undertaken a major review of its arts associates programme, and recruited new associates with lived experience of cultural and ethnic diversity, as well as an agent for change.

As a result, a cultural shift is already happening in discussions at funding meetings, with an increase in the number of successful applications targeting diverse communities and artists. Amgueddfa Cymru and the national library are appointing to roles focusing on engaging with black, Asian and ethnic minority people. The national library and the Archives and Records Council Wales, funded by Welsh Government, have created a toolkit to enable the sector to engage better with black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities.

We provided funding to Race Council Cymru to carry out a pilot project to develop its Black History Wales programme, including the record of stories right across Wales. Six culturally diverse people, each with black history expertise and trusted community engagement experience, led the development of Black History Wales networks in different parts of Wales. I attended the launch of Black History Cymru 365 in October last year and saw for myself the powerful Windrush Cymru exhibition.

I made a statement in January to update on the progress of the audit of commemoration, and I am pleased to say that this work has been continuing at pace. Cadw is preparing guidance for local authorities and other public bodies to support them in making decisions about public commemoration—both historical and in the future. Development of the guidance has been informed by a series of workshops with a wide range of stakeholders. There will be a full public consultation on a draft later this year. Cadw has also been working on improving its website, recognising a more diverse range of stories that contribute to the histories of Wales. It has worked in partnership with several organisations to create content, including personal heritage stories and creative responses to commemorating people of Black heritage in Wales. The new content will be available from mid June.

Our local cultural sectors also have a vital part to play. There are over 100 local museums across the country, all working at a grass-roots level. Last year, 41 museums took part in the innovative training and support programme that we funded—the first of its kind in the UK. This included workshops on looking at collections from new perspectives, to enable stories connected to slavery and the empire to be told from a local perspective. Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with many reporting that they had gained the understanding, knowledge and confidence to make change.

Since the programme ended, we know that many have found new connections in their collections and are starting to reinterpret their displays. I am proud of the significant progress we have already made, and I look forward to our continued progress as we deliver our goals and actions in the action plan and the programme for government commitments. This will be supported by a further £4.25 million funding over the next three years, through the launch of an innovative new grant scheme. Three distinct strands will be covered: our national sponsored bodies; a competitive grant process across our sectors, which I am pleased to say we will be launching in the coming weeks; and a ring-fenced fund specifically for grass-roots organisations, which we are developing at present for launch later this year.

We are also preparing to recruit community mentors to work with my officials over the next year. They will offer critical advice for the delivery of the action plan, support the development of the grant scheme and the establishment of a sector-specific lived-experience advisory group. Together, and at national, local and grass-roots level, we will continue to deliver meaningful change for black, Asian and minority ethnic people across Wales and take vital steps to making our vision of an anti-racist Wales a reality.