WIREDGOV

Nearly £22m of grant funding has been awarded to organisations and projects which support vulnerable children, adults and older people by the Welsh Government, Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford announced today.

The funding has been awarded over three years to a number of  organisations supporting children, young people and their families, looked after children and care leavers, older people, people with learning disabilities and autism, people with physical and/or sensory disabilities, carers. It will also help  prevent and protect children and adults from abuse or neglect.

The funding has been awarded to third sector organisations in Wales under a new three-year Sustainable Social Services Third Sector Grant, which replaces four existing grant streams. The grants will help fund projects and initiatives that support the Welsh Government’s strategic agenda for social services, including the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, which comes into force on April 6.

The projects awarded funding include:

• A joint project being delivered by After Adoption and Adoption UK, which focuses on providing support, information and counselling to adoptive families; provides peer-to-peer preventative and early intervention approaches and maximises the adopter’s voice;  
• Headway will develop support services and set up and maintain neuro cafes for people with brain injuries;
• This British Red Cross working with the Royal Voluntary Service will recruit more than 500 volunteers to support older people across Wales through a new integrated service, which provides both crisis and longer-term support;
• The Wales Co-op Training and Development Centre Ltd will establish pre-start up support for alternative care and support delivery models, provide training and support to emerging models and develop an online resource.

Professor Drakeford said:

“The £22m grant funding will support a range of projects which in turn will support people right across Wales. The funding will help third sector organisations deliver our ambitious agenda for social services in Wales.”