• Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas has today announced a funding package to support Wales’ sport and leisure sector
• Organisations in the culture and heritage sector can now find out if they are eligible to apply for financial support from the Welsh Government’s £53 million Cultural Recovery Fund
• Welsh Government have announced a £4 million funding pot for childcare providers. The Childcare Provider Grant will offer dedicated funding for the childcare sector to help ensure more providers re-open as the schools return in September
• The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is launching a Civil Solidarity Prize, a one-off grant with the specific theme of ‘Civil society against COVID-19‘
• Welsh Government has confirmed up to £50 million to support projects across Wales, providing people with safe and secure homes to make sure they do not fall into homelessness and no-one is forced back onto the streets
• WCVA is still accepting applications from the Third Sector Resilience Fund – Welsh Government funding providing cash flow support for voluntary organisations in Wales during the current Covid-19 crisis. Apply on our website
• RECENTLY UPDATED: find the latest funds to support the sector through the pandemic over at Funding Wales
• The Welsh Government has made up to £9 million available to support town centres recover from the coronavirus pandemic
• Has COVID-19 effected your local sport activity? You can now apply for a grant through Sport Wales’ Be Active Wales Fund in order to ensure your sport offer survives the pandemic, or to help you prepare for your activity to restart safely
• The Steve Morgan Foundation’s emergency hardship fund has been extended until end of September – open to voluntary organisations across North Wales Merseyside and Cheshire
• The new round of Welsh Government’s Wales and Africa grants will fund activities to alleviate the impacts of the coronavirus on communities in Africa. If this sounds like you, visit the Wales and Africa grant scheme page for more details on how to apply
• Coronavirus funding: which should I apply for? new blog from Alison Pritchard, Sustainable Funding Manager at WCVA
• WCVA Emergency fast-track loans – for voluntary sector organisations in Wales to help see them through the effects of coronavirus and recent flooding
• We’ve collated a list of various funders’ responses to the virus

• Felicitie Walls, Volunteering Manager at WCVA, explores how changes to volunteering could enable young people to counteract the negative effects of lockdown restrictions on their lives, in the short and medium term
• Emma Morgan, Volunteer at WCVA, explains why you should consider creating volunteer virtual fundraising roles for your organisation during the pandemic
• Cardiff’s Coronavirus Relief Project marked Ramadan with a fantastic community response, sending out 500 food parcels and collecting over £5,000 in generous donations, with over 100 volunteers signing up to help. Read their story
• E-gift cards for volunteers – updated guidance from Welsh Government on supermarkets schemes to help volunteers shop for the vulnerable (English only)
• This list of free resources will help you to equip volunteers for new roles, or for roles that they will be carrying out under different circumstances at this time
• You can now find or register volunteering opportunities for coronavirus support on Volunteering Wales
• If you are unable to get support from friends and family and need support from volunteers, please contact your local council
• WLGA has a hub of resources and useful information on volunteering available on their website
• Here is some guidance for volunteering in social care settings for staff who are or likely to manage volunteers within social care
• Guidance for staff who manage volunteers within the NHS in Wales, in primary or secondary care – NHS Volunteers and response to COVID-19

• Together we can keep people safe – Welsh Government guidance on what do and who to contact if you suspect a friend, a family member or a neighbour is at risk of harm, abuse or neglect
• Here’s a blog from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on using videoconferencing software safely
• Protecting and Safeguarding Older People – an information pack from the Older People’s Commissioner
• Get Safe Online have launched a campaign to combat social media scams
• NSPCC guidance on the coronavirus and child safeguarding
• Welsh Women’s Aid toolkit to help support survivors of domestic violence and abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic

• NCVO – Coronavirus and governance: what trustees need to think about (English only)
• Russell Cooke Solicitors have released a briefing for charities on a number of legal points relating to COVID-19 with links to other sources of information

LEADERSHIP

• Menai Owen-Jones blogs about the role of leadership in building a different and better future for Wales, and how we have choices and decisions to make that will profoundly influence what comes next
• Adam Fletcher, Head of The British Heart Foundation Cymru talks about the benefits of working together with other organisations across the voluntary sector
• Judi Rhys, CEO at Tenovus Cancer Care raised in a recent #DifferentFuturesWales event that voluntary orgs should consider mergers as a way to adapt post-pandemic. In this blog she shares her views on merger and her personal experiences of mergers as CEO of Arthritis Care
• How can charities keep doing social good during social distancing? Judith Stone, our Assistant Director of Sector Development, makes a return from secondment to talk about what charities can do to continue their vital work
• What the pandemic has meant for delivering services, and the implications for how we deliver services in the future. A blog from Jess Blair

MANAGEMENT

• We’ve released sample Terms and Conditions for community centre managers in Wales to use when hiring out community centres
• We have now updated our guidance for community centres reopening in Wales
• This helpful guide from Function Central contains advice about inclusive and accessibility event planning during COVID-19
• Korina Tsioni at WCVA blogs about five simple ways to keep on top of your quality assurance during the pandemic
• Mike Corcoran, Evaluation Specialist with Co-Production Network for Wales, outlines seven questions for meaningful evaluation of your services in a time of crisis
• Short-term homeworking solutions could be costing charities more. Jonathan Levy, Managing Director of Class Networks, explains why it’s time to set up longer term solutions and business continuity plans
• The Charity Retail Association has released a draft Reopening Pack for when charity shops can re-open, and provides some suggestions of things to think about in the meantime
• Wales Council for the Blind and Wales Council for Deaf People have released guidance on making meetings accessible for people with sensory loss

• Vaughan Gething has said that the voluntary sector was ‘hugely important’ in the coronavirus crisis as service deliverers
• During this time, we need to look out for signs that children, young people or adults in our communities may be being abused, neglected or harmed. Call 101 or visit the Welsh Gov website if you are concerned someone is at risk
• VAWDASV (violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence) services in Wales are set to receive an additional £1.5m in revenue to help them respond to increased demands on services as a result of Covid-19
• Wales Carers Alliance has sent a letter to Welsh Government on the impact on unpaid carers
• Adults living alone, including single parents, in areas under local restrictions are now able to form a temporary bubble with another household in their local area under the new rules

SOURCING PPE & RESOURCES

• 2buy2 are supporting the PPE requirements of organisations throughout the UK by creating a PPE buying group. Find out more info and join their aggregation here

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

• Care homes across Wales are benefiting from digital devices being delivered to them as part of a Welsh Government scheme to help residents keep in touch with friends and family, and to assist with video medical consultations

USEFUL TOOLS, WEBINARS & ONLINE TRAINING

• This online tool from Welsh Government will help people in Wales find advice and support for their individual circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The Violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence team have made online training accessible to all for free during the coronavirus outbreak, to help people recognise the signs of abuse and how they can safely help to help combat the increased risk of some people stuck in abusive relationships during lockdown – you can access it through guest log on at wales.nhs.uk/course/view.php?id=71

BRIEFING PAPERS, REPORTS, & OTHER GUIDANCE

• Here’s new Welsh Government guidance for care home providers for adults and children on how to enable safe visiting during the coronavirus pandemic
• This informative guide from Building Materials focuses on safe independent living for older people, with useful tips and advice on well-being, safety and dealing with loneliness
• The Welsh NHS Confederation has published a briefing paper on cross-sector partnership working to support the response to COVID-19 in Wales
• Wales Council for the Blind and Wales Council for Deaf People have released guidance on making meetings accessible for people with sensory loss
• Welsh Government’s official report of the BAME Covid-19 Socioeconomic Subgroup that identifies systemic racism as a risk factor is now available to read in full
• Updated discharge guidance for health, social care, third and independent sector partners in Wales has been published
• To mark VE Day Carers Wales, in partnership with Age Cymru’s Project 360⁰, has produced a guide on entitlements and support for veteran carers and people caring for veterans
• Association of Charitable Foundations – Response to coronavirus (English only)
• Mind have provided guidance on mental health and wellbeing while dealing with the coronavirus(English only)
• The British Lung Foundation have guidance for people with pre-existing lung conditions(English only)
• The Welsh Government COVID-19 FAQ has been updated to reflect the new Wales-wide changes. FAQs in the local lockdown section of the site have also been amended

ADVICE & BEFRIENDING HELPLINES

• A partnership of BAME organisations in Wales have collaborated to launch a new multi-lingual helpline offering a range of specialist guidance for BAME people
• A new Samaritans enhanced helpline is available for health and social care workers in Wales
• Family Lives, the parenting and family advice charity, has been awarded funding to extend its helpline service to Welsh speakers
• Age Cymru is launching the Friend In Need service to help tackle loneliness and isolation amongst the over 70s as a result of social distancing, self-isolation and shielding
• British Red Cross has set up a coronavirus support line to provide a listening ear and help to people affected by the pandemic
• NHS hygiene advice
• Eight fully-funded counselling sessions for people struggling with mental health are available through Breathe

CAMPAIGNS

• Help Keep Wales Safe through the pandemic by using this campaign pack from Welsh Government – featuring materials to help you promote the latest guidance
• Social Care Heroes is a social media initiative developed by a partnership of agencies and individuals who want to raise awareness of the social care workforce in Wales
• ‘Now more than ever we need people to think carefully about where to seek advice to avoid extra pressure on the NHS this winter’ – This is the call from the Minister for Health Vaughan Gething as our health care services and health boards continue to deal with the coronavirus pandemic
• Community pharmacies are reporting an increased flu vaccine uptake as Wales embarks on biggest vaccination programme
• People across Wales and England are being urged to download the new NHS COVID-19 app to help stop the spread of coronavirus and protect themselves and their loved ones as case numbers rise