Two projects aimed at increasing the Church in Wales' reach have been awarded grants of nearly £5m between them. 

The Church in Wales' Evangelism Fund is supporting a new mission centre in St Davids Diocese and an outreach project for young people in Llandaff Diocese. 

The Young Faith Matters project, in Llandaff, has received £2.9m towards its work to reach the 'missing generation' in churches - children, students and young adults.

The project is focussed on engagement in schools and will also establish a church catering for Cardiff's student population. 

The Bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, said that the projects would reach young people in "new and exciting ways".

"Our aim is for the church to connect with children and young adults, to engage with what is important to them, and thus to feel more relevant in today's society," she said.

"With loneliness and social media impacting on young people's mental health and wellbeing, the church can offer love, hope and sense of community to those young people who are searching for a greater sense of purpose.

"It's an exciting time for us at the Diocese of Llandaff as we begin to reach out with an offer of faith and belonging to this missing generation. We can't wait to show just how fulfilling a life lived in Christ can be."

St Davids Diocese is partnering with Church Army in the development of three Centres of Mission that will benefit from a £1.9m investment. 

The centres will be staffed by evangelists who will work in collaboration with existing churches to serve communities and run activities signposting people of all ages to Christian worship. 

The Bishop of St Davids, Joanna Penberthy, said, "These centres will not only impact positively in their own locations but across the Diocese as the evangelists will be giving some of their time to help our local ministry areas develop their evangelism and outreach."

Announcing the grants, Sir Paul Silk, chair of the Evangelism Fund committee, said, "We are delighted to be able to give the green light to two substantial investments in evangelical work in the dioceses of St Davids and of Llandaff.

"As stewards of the Church in Wales's funds, we have to assure ourselves that the business cases we receive are robust and that the projects we help to finance will bear fruit.

"We are confident that this is the case, and that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the two dioceses' projects will be very successful. We wish them well."