I draw the chamber’s attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests.

This week, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations reported that half of all Scottish charities will run out of cash in six months and fear closure. Many—perhaps most—have been unable to access crisis funds. How will the First Minister respond to that cry for help from a critical sector?

I absolutely understand how critical the sector is. As we all do, I deeply value the contribution that it makes. I know how much poorer a country Scotland would be without that contribution, so I desperately want charities to be able to get through the crisis and to flourish at the other end of it. I give an assurance that the Scottish Government will do everything that we can to support them.

I am not going to insult anyone’s intelligence; I cannot stand here and give a blanket assurance that we will be able to solve every financial problem for every single charity. I think that people understand that. However, we will do everything that we can, as we always have done, working with the sector, to provide as much support as we can. We have provided some support already during this crisis.

Also—and I am not trying to let the Government off the hook; we have a key responsibility here—every single one of us, as an individual, has a part that we can play. Most of us will have—now or at some point in our lives—a charity to which we are particularly close and to which we donate. Every citizen across the country can perhaps think about making a donation, if they are able to do so, to a charity that means a lot to them or that they want to support. If we all do that, it will not take away the responsibility of Government but it will be another example of our coming together as a country to try to protect what matters most to all of us.