Extra £2.25m funding for Welsh voluntary sector
Melanie May | 29 June 2021 | News
WCVA (Wales Council for Voluntary Action) will distribute an additional £2.25m funding to the voluntary sector in the Welsh Government’s third phase of its Third Sector Resilience Fund, it was announced yesterday.
Speaking at the official launch of gofod3 – cancelled last year because of the pandemic, and this year a five-day, online event – the First Minister Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS announced the news as he outlined his government’s vision for the voluntary sector in Wales.
Ahead of his speech, the First Minister said:
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“The Welsh Government will continue to support the Third Sector and its very important work. We are launching the latest Third Sector Resilience Fund, which will help protect Third Sector organisations that are still vulnerable and put others on a sounder footing.
“We will again work with WCVA to distribute these funds and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for the work that they have done over the past year to support the sector.”
The Third Sector Resilience Fund for Wales has provided support to 235 voluntary sector organisations in Wales since April 2020. The £2.25m is in addition to the £24m of support previously announced by Welsh Government and will move away from the previous mixture of grant and interest free loan, offering up to a £50k ‘survive and thrive’ grant to voluntary sector organisations. For this phase of funding, WCVA will prioritise organisations not previously been funded from the first two phases of this fund and those delivering support to people with protected characteristics.
For more information about the fund, organisations should email si*@wc**.cymru.
Ruth Marks, Chief Executive of WCVA, said:
“We are thrilled to be working with Welsh Government again, distributing vital funds to the voluntary sector. The third phase of this particular fund – Third Sector Resilience Fund – will focus on supporting the sector to ‘survive and thrive’ while working towards a fair and just recovery, which is why the decision to prioritise organisations working with protected characteristics has been made. Providing this funding is a deliberate – and welcome – decision on the part of Welsh Government to support volunteers, charities and social enterprises in Wales, most of whom are proving essential in the national response to Covid-19.”
gofod3 is being held between Monday 28 June and Friday 2 July this year. WCVA is expecting up to 700 attendees to participate in over 60 free events, including masterclasses, panel debates and workshops to navigate a new working post-Covid landscape.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.