Wrexham Assembly Member Lesley Griffiths has called support for frontline services for the vulnerable ‘essential’, following the announcement by the Welsh Government of £2.9millon in grant funds for national voluntary organisations working in the Welsh Mental Health Sector.
Grant funding is to be made available to charitable and voluntary organisations who work across the Mental Health Sector in Wales on a three-year basis from April 2012. The money will help to keep organisations working on the front line ‘operational’, helping to fund basic operational need such as salaries, rent and utilities. Grants will be made are payable under Section 64 of the Health Service and Public Health Act 1968.
The money compliments an injection of over £9 million in funds for other Third Sector organisations announced in December by Welsh Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas.
Following the announcement, Lesley Griffiths said:
“These funds will have a direct positive impact upon a number of organisations which operate in Wrexham and across the Mental Health Sector in Wales.
“Voluntary and charitable groups who work with the mentally ill work tirelessly all year round to support the most vulnerable in society. In so doing, these groups fulfil a vital role between the public and private sectors.
“As such, I believe it is essential that support is maintained for the frontline services these organisations provide, whatever the financial circumstances.
“With this announcement, the Welsh Government is showing once more its commitment to support the wellbeing of the one in four of us who will suffer from mental health issues in our lifetimes.”
