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On 1 March, we will celebrate St David’s Day by bringing to life the brilliant and far-reaching work done internationally by Welsh people and anyone connected to Wales, through content shared on Twitter and Facebook and using #GlobalStDavids.

Staff in the UK Government’s international embassies together with our armed forces and humanitarian workers will be part of this global celebration and we’d love you to join in.

Get involved

Tell the world about someone inspirational working abroad this St David’s Day or if you are Welsh or have a connection to Wales and you are overseas tell us what you are doing.

If you are an employer, tweet a thank you message to your staff abroad.

Here are some examples to get you started.

• Thank you to [someone you want to celebrate] who is spending #StDavidsDay [how they are spending St David’s Day] #GlobalStDavids @UKGovWales

• This #StDavidsDay we’re celebrating Wales’s impact across the world & all our staff who are part of it. #GlobalStDavids @UKGovWales

• This #StDavidsDay I’m in [place/country], where I’m [what you do and who you work for]. #GlobalStDavids @UKGovWales

• To all our Welsh staff, thank you for the brilliant work you do across the world. #GlobalStDavids @UKGovWales

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Published 26 February 2018

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns is to emphasise the role that Wales’ coastal industries will play as Britain prepares to leave the EU, in a visit the Port of Mostyn later today (26 February).

The Port of Mostyn in Flintshire, North Wales is responsible for transporting the wings of the Airbus A380 aircraft made at the Broughton site to Bordeaux in France for final assembly.

As well as facilitating the growth of Wales’ impressive aerospace industry, the port, considered one of the oldest in the country, is one of the main centres in Europe for the for the assembly and installation of offshore wind turbines.

The visit comes as part of the Welsh Secretary’s mission to encourage leading sectors in the Welsh economy to think beyond the political and administrative boundaries between Wales and the rest of the UK to develop growth corridors that will spread prosperity and enable the nation to compete on a global stage.

Mr Cairns will visit the port’s headquarters in Flintshire, North Wales, where he will meet Managing Director Jim O’Toole as part of the ongoing discussions with key Welsh industries as Britain prepares to leave the EU.

The Welsh Secretary will then tour the operations control room of the 160-turbine Gwynt-y-Môr windfarm with manager John Porter to see first hand how the firm is harnessing the power of Wales’ natural resources.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

If Wales is to keep pace with the changing global economic landscape and appetite for renewable energy then we need to create the right conditions for growth, looking beyond borders to explore all the options available to us.

The Port of Mostyn demonstrates how it is possible to combine the strength of Britain’s traditional heavy industries whilst capitalising on the rich natural resources available in Wales to benefit the local community, as well as the UK economy as a whole.

ENDS

The Home Office has today (25 February) launched a £13 million fund to help youth workers, police, nurses and other professionals form close, protective relationships with children and young people at risk of sexual exploitation, county lines gang crime or relationship abuse.

The Trusted Relationships Fund will invite local authorities to apply for funding to run projects aimed at fostering relationships between frontline staff and at-risk children. Through the fund, local authorities are encouraged to work with local partners to improve the way professionals, including social workers, youth workers, police and voluntary sector practitioners, work together to support vulnerable young people.

Local authorities will be asked to design projects that fit their needs. But the projects could see frontline workers organising or becoming involved with:

• establishing a safe space where young people can share their concerns with professionals who will listen to them
• providing specialist counselling services
• delivering positive activities including sport, music, arts and volunteering
• improving the way local organisations work together to support the most vulnerable young people
• working with children who repeatedly go missing to ensure that they are kept safe and well

Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, Victoria Atkins, said:

This government is working to keep all our children and young people safe and protect them from those who would exploit them or try to pull them into a life of violence and crime.

We all know how valuable it can be for a child to have an adult in their life who they can trust, who they can confide in, who has their best interests at heart and who is in a position to act when they are in trouble.

Through the Trusted Relationships Fund we want to ensure that those most at risk of abuse and exploitation, such as child sexual exploitation or gang-related exploitation have such a person in their lives.

A review carried out by the Early Intervention Foundation, commissioned by the Home Office last year, found that a trusted relationship with an adult is an essential part of programmes to support vulnerable children, and that the lack of trusted relationships is consistently cited in reviews of failures around child sexual abuse and exploitation. It found that this kind of social support can help children avoid risky situations, as well as help them overcome adverse circumstances in their lives, and that a trusted relationship can make young people significantly more likely to disclose when abuse is happening to them.

The projects will be targeted towards young people aged 10 to 17 who have been identified by local partners as vulnerable to being sexually exploited, victims of county lines or peer or relationship abuse.

Local authorities in England will shortly be able to submit expressions of interest and proposals must be able to demonstrate how they will:

• improve wellbeing, self esteem, self efficacy, resilience and critical thinking skills in vulnerable young people
• facilitate higher quantity and quality of trusted relationships between young people and adults who are there to support them, as reported by both young people and professionals
• reduce incidents of children and young people going missing, being exploited and abused, and entering the criminal justice system

The fund will also strengthen the evidence base on what works to protect young people from exploitation and abuse to improve services over the course of the programme and beyond.

Donna Molloy, Director of Dissemination at the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF), said:

In early intervention services, the trust that develops between a skilled practitioner and a parent, child or young person can motivate and equip people to change their lives. The evidence shows that positive relationships can support the development of skills, coping strategies, confidence and behaviour change for children and young people.

We do need a better understanding of the potential of trusted relationships between practitioners and young people to protect vulnerable young people from sexual abuse and exploitation. The new funding provides a great opportunity to build the evidence about which specific aspects of workforce practice are more or less effective in building trusting relationships with vulnerable children. We still know far too little about what makes a good practitioner able to deliver effective early intervention and how to support the different groups of practitioners that collectively make up the early intervention workforce.

There will be a two-stage application process for the fund. Local authorities in England are eligible to be lead bidders and are encouraged to work with local partners in developing and delivering projects, which could include other statutory organisations, the voluntary and community sector and the private sector.

Our Armed Forces do a magnificent job. It’s my privilege to see the incredible work they do all around the globe – every hour of every day. In Iraq I’ve spoken to our impressive air men and women who have been hammering barbaric Daesh fighters in Iraq to destroy the death cult that has brought bloodshed to the streets of Britain. In Poland I’ve met inspirational soldiers– not simply supporting and leading NATO missions in Eastern Europe but underpinning our security at home. And in the North Atlantic and the Gulf I’ve listened to the sailors protecting our precious undersea communications cables and patrolling our vital trading routes. All the while, our dedicated submariners maintain our nuclear deterrent – our nation’s ultimate armour against the most extreme threats to our way of life.

These people are the greatest of their generation. And they have the right to expect more than simply the best jets, warships and tanks to help them do their duty. It is also their right to expect the best possible support care on and off the battlefield. In the not too distant past that would have meant treating the physical scars of conflict. There wouldn’t have been much thought about helping heal the invisible wounds war leaves behind. But times have changed. We now understand the importance of a healthy mind as well as a healthy body. That’s why the Ministry of Defence is now spending around £20 million a year on mental health services to treat the trauma life on the front line can bring. But while things have vastly improved – they are not perfect. We should never be too afraid or too timid to tackle the stigma of mental illness and look at new ways to offer help. That’s why I want to commend the Mail on Sunday’s Helpline for Heroes campaign for shining the spotlight on this critically important issue. It’s simply unacceptable that serving personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, suicidal or negative thoughts, should suffer in silence.

So I have now agreed to spend an extra £20m over the next decade to improve mental health services in the Armed Forces – £2m more every year for vital services. That’s at least £220m over the next 10 years. Today we launch the Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and their families while bolstering the care currently on offer. We are forming a deeper partnership with Combat Stress – the leading charity in the UK for supporting veterans with mental health problems. The charity already helps a small number of serving personnel through their 24-hour helpline, but we will be enhancing this service with additional funds and creating the entirely new Military Mental Health Helpline with its own memorable number –  0800 323 4444. This will be specifically targeted at serving personnel and their families – allowing them to access help anywhere, anytime. It will be staffed by professionals and will benefit from improved information sharing with the military, so those in need get the vital help they need. We have examined the choices closely and believe this will deliver the best service for our Armed Forces.

The freephone number will take calls from midday today. And it will be backed up by a major internal marketing campaign.  The truth is we’ve not always been the best at talking about these issues in the military. So I will personally be working with the Service Chiefs to make sure there isn’t a single person in the forces who doesn’t know where to turn in times of trouble.

But I don’t just want people to know who to call when they need to talk to someone. I want them to know what else is on offer.

I want them to know about the 20 sites providing mental health care for the military in the UK and abroad – bringing together psychiatrists, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists and social workers to help manage the mental health needs of those in difficulty.

I want them to know about the service provided by NHS England – the Transition, Intervention and Liaison Mental Health Service – which seeks to increase the access to, and treatment of, mental health services for those approaching discharge who may have mental health needs.

I want them to know more about the Veterans Gateway – offering current and former personnel support on everything from financial assistance to property problems.

I want them to know about our ground-breaking partnership with Prince Harry and the Royal Foundation – raising awareness about the importance of good mental fitness, drawing on the best research and putting a wealth of information online.

And I want them to know we have a mental health strategy that can work for them. It’s about educating our chain of command and working with our people and their families. It’s about spotting the early warning signs of mental illness. It’s about encouraging those who need help to get it quickly. And it’s about prevention – building that vital awareness of good mental health fitness into training so that our troops are better equipped to deal with operational stress before, during and after combat as well as the stresses of day-to-day living that we all experience.

Next month the King’s Centre for Military Health Research will be holding a conference uniting leading experts from across the UK and the world to discuss mental health challenges encountered by personnel from the day they join through to retirement. Their work is increasingly important.

As the dangers our nation faces become ever more intense and ever more complex, whether from aggressive states such as Russia, terrorism or cyber warfare, it’s vital for us to keep our brave men and women at the top of their game both physically and mentally.

But there’s always more we can do to help those who find themselves isolated or feeling low. So make no mistake, it is one of my top priorities as Defence Secretary to make sure everyone in the Armed Forces feels valued.

At home, as well as across the world, our Service personnel remain Britain’s finest. And if the ever-evolving nature of conflict demands that we keep adapting our approach then, have no doubt, we are ready and willing to do so. No-one in our Armed Forces need suffer in silence. Our heroic men and women are the backbone of our nation. They lay their lives on the line for us every single day. They are the very best of British. And they deserve nothing less than the very best support.

Our Armed Forces do a magnificent job. It’s my privilege to see the incredible work they do all around the globe – every hour of every day. In Iraq I’ve spoken to our impressive air men and women who have been hammering barbaric Daesh fighters in Iraq to destroy the death cult that has brought bloodshed to the streets of Britain. In Poland I’ve met inspirational soldiers– not simply supporting and leading NATO missions in Eastern Europe but underpinning our security at home. And in the North Atlantic and the Gulf I’ve listened to the sailors protecting our precious undersea communications cables and patrolling our vital trading routes. All the while, our dedicated submariners maintain our nuclear deterrent – our nation’s ultimate armour against the most extreme threats to our way of life.

These people are the greatest of their generation. And they have the right to expect more than simply the best jets, warships and tanks to help them do their duty. It is also their right to expect the best possible support care on and off the battlefield. In the not too distant past that would have meant treating the physical scars of conflict. There wouldn’t have been much thought about helping heal the invisible wounds war leaves behind. But times have changed. We now understand the importance of a healthy mind as well as a healthy body. That’s why the Ministry of Defence is now spending around £20 million a year on mental health services to treat the trauma life on the front line can bring. But while things have vastly improved – they are not perfect. We should never be too afraid or too timid to tackle the stigma of mental illness and look at new ways to offer help. That’s why I want to commend the Mail on Sunday’s Helpline for Heroes campaign for shining the spotlight on this critically important issue. It’s simply unacceptable that serving personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, suicidal or negative thoughts, should suffer in silence.

So I have now agreed to spend an extra £20m over the next decade to improve mental health services in the Armed Forces – £2m more every year for vital services. That’s at least £220m over the next 10 years. Today we launch the Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and their families while bolstering the care currently on offer. We are forming a deeper partnership with Combat Stress – the leading charity in the UK for supporting veterans with mental health problems. The charity already helps a small number of serving personnel through their 24-hour helpline, but we will be enhancing this service with additional funds and creating the entirely new Military Mental Health Helpline with its own memorable number –  0800 323 4444. This will be specifically targeted at serving personnel and their families – allowing them to access help anywhere, anytime. It will be staffed by professionals and will benefit from improved information sharing with the military, so those in need get the vital help they need. We have examined the choices closely and believe this will deliver the best service for our Armed Forces.

The freephone number will take calls from midday today. And it will be backed up by a major internal marketing campaign.  The truth is we’ve not always been the best at talking about these issues in the military. So I will personally be working with the Service Chiefs to make sure there isn’t a single person in the forces who doesn’t know where to turn in times of trouble.

But I don’t just want people to know who to call when they need to talk to someone. I want them to know what else is on offer.

I want them to know about the 20 sites providing mental health care for the military in the UK and abroad – bringing together psychiatrists, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists and social workers to help manage the mental health needs of those in difficulty.

I want them to know about the service provided by NHS England – the Transition, Intervention and Liaison Mental Health Service – which seeks to increase the access to, and treatment of, mental health services for those approaching discharge who may have mental health needs.

I want them to know more about the Veterans Gateway – offering current and former personnel support on everything from financial assistance to property problems.

I want them to know about our ground-breaking partnership with Prince Harry and the Royal Foundation – raising awareness about the importance of good mental fitness, drawing on the best research and putting a wealth of information online.

And I want them to know we have a mental health strategy that can work for them. It’s about educating our chain of command and working with our people and their families. It’s about spotting the early warning signs of mental illness. It’s about encouraging those who need help to get it quickly. And it’s about prevention – building that vital awareness of good mental health fitness into training so that our troops are better equipped to deal with operational stress before, during and after combat as well as the stresses of day-to-day living that we all experience.

Next month the King’s Centre for Military Health Research will be holding a conference uniting leading experts from across the UK and the world to discuss mental health challenges encountered by personnel from the day they join through to retirement. Their work is increasingly important.

As the dangers our nation faces become ever more intense and ever more complex, whether from aggressive states such as Russia, terrorism or cyber warfare, it’s vital for us to keep our brave men and women at the top of their game both physically and mentally.

But there’s always more we can do to help those who find themselves isolated or feeling low. So make no mistake, it is one of my top priorities as Defence Secretary to make sure everyone in the Armed Forces feels valued.

At home, as well as across the world, our Service personnel remain Britain’s finest. And if the ever-evolving nature of conflict demands that we keep adapting our approach then, have no doubt, we are ready and willing to do so. No-one in our Armed Forces need suffer in silence. Our heroic men and women are the backbone of our nation. They lay their lives on the line for us every single day. They are the very best of British. And they deserve nothing less than the very best support.