Wales’s separatist government is keeping alive a taxpayer-funded scheme that paid £25,000, about $33,600, for beekeeping training for disabled people in Uganda and Ghana.
The grant went to the Welsh charity Bees for Development from the Welsh Government’s Wales and Africa Grant Scheme, according to the scheme’s March 2026 award list. It pays for “disability-inclusive” beekeeping training for 150 disabled men and 150 disabled women across the two African countries, plus training for partner organizations in Wales and a training package. The Telegraph first reported the grant on November 3.
The money was approved by Wales’s previous Labour government before the May 2026 elections to the Senedd, the Welsh parliament. Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales), the left-wing separatist party now running a minority government, has kept the scheme going and is asking for new applications.
Labour signed the checks. Plaid has chosen to keep writing them.
The beekeepers are not the only beneficiaries. The scheme also handed just under £22,000 to “financial literacy” training for LGBTQI+ Ugandans, and almost £20,000 to radio phone-ins meant to “introduce Montgomeryshire farmers to Ugandan farmers.”
In total, the scheme spent just under £300,000, about $400,000, in 2025-26 and has been funded by the Welsh Government since 2013. Welsh charities can apply for between £5,000 and £25,000 per 12-month project.
Asked about the grants, a Welsh Government spokesman told The Telegraph that “individual projects reflect decisions taken by previous administrations, but this Government is looking to the future,” adding: “Wales is a confident, outward-looking nation that takes its global responsibilities seriously.” The spokesman did not say the scheme would end.
The money keeps flowing abroad while patients at home wait longer. Official figures published October 22 showed about 558,100 patients on Welsh NHS waiting lists at the end of August, the fifth monthly rise in a row, with the median wait up to 17.2 weeks. Plaid’s own health minister, Mabon ap Gwynfor, called the figures “not good enough,” saying: “Too many people are still waiting too long for the treatment they need, and that is simply not acceptable.”
In June 2026, the Senedd voted down a motion from Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s party, to end the Welsh Government’s international spending.
“It’s ridiculous the Welsh government spends money on these projects abroad… Welsh money should be for Wales. Full stop,” said Cai Parry-Jones, Reform’s finance spokesman in the Senedd.
