But needs the support of everyone in Wales to ensure its success; from those directly involved in physical activity to others helping deliver public services such as health, education, natural resources and economic development.

• Enjoyment key factor for active nation
• New £5m fund to encourage and share ideas for helping people live healthy and active lives

Taking forward the collective approach, a new Healthy and Active Fund (HAF) – a partnership between Welsh Government, Sport Wales and Public Health Wales – will be announced to encourage and share innovative ideas that support people to build physical activity into their lives and improve their physical and mental wellbeing.  

The first phase investment of £5m over three years will focus on improving physical activity levels, encouraging solutions to take advantage of collaboration, existing community assets such as clubs, schools and workplaces, and new technology. Full details of the HAF application process will be announced in the Autumn.

In addition, Sport Wales will be launching the new Vision for Sport in Wales, at the core of which is a focus on encouraging an active lifestyle and a lifelong participation in sport through a wider range of enjoyable and accessible experiences

The Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, Lord Elis-Thomas said: 

“I’ve been very clear that one of my primary priorities as Minister is to improve accessibility across all aspects of my portfolio. Nowhere is this more important that in sport, where making it as easy as possible for people from across Wales to enjoy the benefits of physical activity comes with enormous, cross cutting benefits. 

“I’ve been fortunate enough to recently witness some outstanding projects which are seeing individuals from all backgrounds get more involved with sport, some for the first time. Through continuing to work together towards a common goal of making sport as accessible and enjoyable as possible I’m optimistic that we can build on these successes and further increase participation. 

“This new fund, alongside a refreshed vision for the future, will look to facilitate just that and I very much look forward to seeing it help deliver a healthier, more active Wales for us all.”

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething said:

“Becoming healthy and active should not feel like an ordeal or something to be apprehensive about. It should be something that is fun, open to everyone and a way for people, families and communities to come together. I look forward to the first projects supported by the Fund being up and running early next year, delivering innovative solutions and making a real contribution to the health and well-being of people across Wales.” 

After a Wales-wide public conversation, the need for enjoyable experiences to be central to getting people active was a resounding message.

Ensuring people have a lifelong participation is another core theme of turning Wales into a more active nation, which will influence a new collective approach to sport in Wales.

Chair of Sport Wales, Lawrence Conway said:

“It was refreshing to speak to so many people across Wales about their views on sport, being active and how they are inspired by the success of those competing at the highest levels. 

“A consistent message was that the people’s experience of sporting activity was vitally important – the fun and enjoyment aspects being central to whether people would want to come back or carry on being active. The sporting offer needs to be engaging and varied, with the informal and less competitive versions being important for those who may not see themselves as sporty. 

“The collective approach to getting people participating will also be vital and the partnership we’ve developed with Public Health Wales is a positive step in bringing this vision to life.”

Dr Chrissie Pickin, Executive Director for Health and Wellbeing at Public Health Wales said: 

“In many of our communities too many people are living in poor health as a result of conditions such as cancer, heart disease and bone and joint problems. 

“Being inactive is a risk factor for all of these conditions. Helping us incorporate physical activity into our daily lives is one of the best ways we can both prevent and improve some of these conditions, as well as helping us feel good. 

“The Healthy and Active Fund is a welcome boost to help our communities become more active, no matter what activity you choose, where you live or how much money you have.”

For more on the Vision for Sport in Wales visit www.visionforsport.wales. 

During a visit to the unit today (Thursday, 19 July), Mr Gething saw how the money will be used to upgrade the unit to deal with patients in a more clinically appropriate environment and improve their experience. 

He said: 

“Chronic kidney disease is estimated to affect 6‐8% of the general population. With many of the contributing factors, age, obesity‐related diabetes and coronary heart disease, expected to increase, the demand for renal services is set to grow. 

Our renal services delivery plan recognises the need to expand services in the south east Wales region. This investment will allow the unit to see more patients and better deal with those patients with more complex needs.”

The new design has been clinically led to produce a unit designed to meet the specific demands of about 20 – 25 highly complex patients who not only require regular dialysis, but who also need key multidisciplinary input from the many specialties that are based within UHW.

The development together with the Renal Ward (B5) and the Transplant unit in UHW will enable the health board to deliver more efficient treatment of patients with severe acute kidney injury, as well as other patients within UHW that require regular dialysis as inpatients.  

Catherine Wood, Directorate Manager for Nephrology at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: 

“We are extremely pleased to receive this investment in our services.

“Suite 19 is the main renal unit within the UHW hub and treats patients with a broad range of needs including those with complex medical or nursing needs.

“The investment will mean that we are able to deal renal conditions in a more suitable environment which is tailored to the needs of the patient, enabling staff to deliver the best care possible.”

Speaking  at the National Assembly’s Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee, the Cabinet Secretary confirmed that the new plan will build on the success of ‘Towards Sustainable Growth’, which ends in December 2019.  

The Cabinet Secretary urged everyone with an interest in the future of the sector to get involved and share their views on how the sector needs to develop and where it needs to be through to 2025.  

Since the introduction of the original action Plan in 2014, there has been considerable growth in the turnover value of the food and farming sector, with exports also growing strongly and passing the half billion mark for the first time in 2017.

The food and drinks industry is a globally renowned sector, with 165 Great Taste Winners in 2017 and 15 products now holding EU protected food name status.

Cabinet Secretary said:  

“Food and Drink is a foundation sector for Wales and now more than ever, it is important that we ensure the industry is strong and robust to thrive in a post-Brexit world.  It is also important that businesses have the capacity, support and resources in place to make the most of their opportunities to grow.

“That is why we have already begun work on a successor Food and Drink Action plan, working collaboratively with the Board.  I would encourage anyone with an interest in the future of the sector to share their views with us over the coming months as we develop our proposals further.”

Andy Richardson, Chair of the Food and Drink Wales Industry Board said:

“The board is committed to engaging with Welsh food and drink businesses, with a strong focus on growth, innovation and adding value.“We are looking to refresh our activities in order they remain relevant and flexible to respond to the new challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.  Above all we want to drive the continued growth of the sector and reinforce Wales’ position as a leading provider of healthy, nutritious and exciting food and drink.”

The Welsh Government will take responsibility for this area at the end of September, with teachers’ pay and conditions being set by the Welsh Government from September 2019.

After an eight week consultation, the Education Secretary today confirmed that the model would see teachers unions, employers and the Welsh Government coming together on an annual basis in a Partnership Forum.

This new Partnership Forum would be able to propose changes to a draft remit for pay and conditions and set the agenda for any other issues that needed to be considered.

Following consideration of the Forum’s views, Welsh Ministers would submit a ‘final’ remit for scrutiny and analysis by an independent expert body – the Welsh Pay Review Body – prior to taking any final decisions.

Listening to concerns listed in responses to the consultation, Kirsty Williams also confirmed that a public consultation stage would not form part of the annual decision making process. Instead a written consultation would take place with key stakeholders only.

The Education Secretary said:

“This is an opportunity to develop a truly national model that enshrines a national approach to supporting and elevating the status of the teaching profession in Wales.

“What we want is a model that brings unions, employers and Welsh Government together to agree a fair, sensible and sustainable way forward – with the benefit of advice from an independent expert body.

“We’ll now start talking through the finer details of how this new model is going to work and we enter into these discussions in the spirit of cooperation.”

As the only standard historical dictionary of the Welsh language, the Geiriadur is the definitive record of Welsh vocabulary and therefore forms the basis for other dictionaries, thesauruses, terminology lists and reference works.

Work on compiling the dictionary began in 1921, and it is updated several times a year based on evidence of popular use of words. The dictionary, which is now published as an online only version, has received public funding since 1921and the Welsh Government stepped in in 2015 when funding from other sources ceased.

New words can take years to enter the dictionary to ensure that they are established and aren’t just a short-term fad. Words currently under consideration for inclusion in the future include hunlun (selfie), OMB (O Mam Bach, corresponding to OMG), trendio (trending) and aildrydar (retweet).

The role the dictionary will play in the future of Welsh language linguistic infrastructure, and how this can contribute to achieving the aims of Cymraeg 2050, will be discussed at a seminar of experts in the fields of lexicography, terminology, language corpora and the translation profession at the National Eisteddfod.

The Minister said:

“My visit to Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru was very informative. I was particularly interested in hearing about how it is recording the language as it adapts and evolves, which will ensure its longevity.

“As one of the most important works in the Welsh language, it is very pleasing to see that Welsh Government funding is playing a vital role in its future and therefore the future of the language.”

Arwel Ellis Owen, Chair of the Board of Directors at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies said:

“We welcome the Welsh Government’s support as it ensures the dictionary’s future and acknowledges the work the dictionary does to record and expand the use of Welsh.”

Professor Medwin Hughes, Vice Chancellor of the University of Wales, Trinity St David and Vice Chancellor of the University of Wales said:

“It is a pleasure to be a part of the Welsh Government’s work to promote the Welsh language. The university supports the aim of creating a bilingual Wales and developing the corpus of the language.”