WELCOME!
“Thank you for choosing to fundraise for Wooden Spoon – we really appreciate your efforts. You will be helping to transform the lives of children and young people across the UK and Ireland, through the projects we support.”
Sarah Webb, Wooden Spoon CEO
Our digital Fundraising Pack is here as a guide for you on your fundraising journey, helping to point you to where you can find further information and ideas, plus let you know how you can get in contact with us. We’re here to support you along the way as you fundraise for Wooden Spoon.
About Wooden Spoon Page 3
What we do Page 4
Projects we support Page 5
2024 in numbers Page 6
Sponsorship Page 7
Launching your fundraising & ongoing communications Page 8
Assets to help you Page 10
Fundraising tip and ideas Page 12
Ways to pay in Page 13
About Wooden Spoon
Wooden Spoon is the children’s charity of rugby – we fund life-changing projects across the UK & Ireland supporting children and young people living with disabilities, those disadvantaged or disenfranchised. But we need your help more than ever as more children need our help.
In the last year, Wooden Spoon was only able to fund one in three of the grant applications we received due to the increased demand for our support.
We exist to help the 1.1 million children living with a disability, the third of children living in poverty and the 1 in 5 children who suffer with a mental health issue to live their best lives.
30% OF CHILDREN are living in poverty
99,000 FAMILIES
in the UK are caring for seriously ill children
OF CHILDREN
ONLY 1 IN 3 CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
with a diagnosable mental health condition get access to NHS care and treatment
in the UK have a probable mental health disorder
11% OF CHILDREN
in the UK have a disability
66% OF UK FAMILIES say the cost-of-living crisis had negatively impacted their family
What WE DO
Imagine being one of the 75% of disabled children who don’t have the opportunity to play sport at school.
Imagine being one of the 30% of children growing up in poverty…
Imagine being of one of the 1 in 5 children who are neurodivergent…
Wooden Spoon funds specialist adaptive equipment including wheelchairs, cycles, boats, horses, walking frames to give children with disabilities the same chance to play as their contemporaries.
Wooden Spoon funds programmes that enable schools to provide breakfast clubs, so children have the energy to learn, and fund youth clubs where children have a warm friendly space to meet.
Wooden Spoon funds Sensory spaces and playgrounds – a safe-haven for neurodiverse children to manage stress, reduce anxiety, and improve focus.
Imagine being one of the 3 million children that suffers from a mental health issue...
Wooden Spoon funds projects that engage children in an activity or sport that can provide a release from some of the sources of their depression or anxiety. Also it helps them share experiences with contemporaries to understand that they are not alone.
WOODEN SPOON FUNDRAISING
PAGE 5
PROJECTS WE SUPPORT
“The Pirate ship climbing frame will give our pupils the opportunity to be active, play and develop social skills both independently and with support.”
Park Community Academy in Blackpool unveiled a new pirate ship play structure, officially opened by Sir Bill Beaumont CBE DL. Replacing an older structure, it benefits the school’s 330 pupils with learning needs by providing enjoyment, improving motor skills, encouraging creativity, and supporting fitness, advancing Wooden Spoon’s mission to help children thrive.
Scotland rugby legend Roger Baird opened a new accessible kitchen at Edinburgh’s Teens+ Centre, benefiting 25 students with additional needs.
Funded by Wooden Spoon, it features wheelchair-friendly counters and highcontrast fittings. The space supports life skills, builds confidence, and encourages connections, creating an environment where learning happens through laughter, collaboration, and friendship.
“The new life skills kitchen is more than just a place to learn how to cook. For our young people with complex needs, the kitchen offers an accessible space to make connections.”
“We have a lot of young people who use The Cubbie for their everyday routine and regulation. The kids love it. It makes a difference every day of the week.”
Young people with autism often have difficulty processing information which can lead to sensory overload and anxiety.
Ambitious about Autism’s Spring school in Kingston is very short on space so the Wooden Spoon Cubbie, an immersive sensory experience offers a compact solution to pupils who need to reset and regulate away from others.
“When it comes to clubs we find it hard to find something accessible and accepting of Freddie and his additional learning needs. For him to be in a place where he feels comfortable and safe is a great relief for us.”
Using rugby as a catalyst to inspire, The Dragons Rugby and Sparkle charity put smiles on youngsters faces with specially adapted activities for children with additional needs. The Wooden Spoon funding allows the Dragons team to provide engaging sessions which support movement and cognitive development
If you’d like to find out more about other recent projects visit the Wooden Spoon website at: woodenspoon.org.uk/recent-projects/
Assistant Headteacher, Ben Whittaker
Head of Teens+, Simon Pearce-Madge
Executive Head, Andy Nowak
Dominique, Freddie’s mum
LANCASHIRE
SCOTLAND
SURREY
WALES
2024 in numbers
SPONSORSHIP
When doing fundraising, it’s best to communicate about your fundraising on a number of occasions. For example, you are likely to want to launch your fundraising (announce what you are doing) but also send reminders between when you start off your fundraising and the date of your fundraising activity (pre-event), on the day of your event and just after. The first thing you’ll need to do is set up a fundraising page.
Setting up a fundraising page
The best page to use which is linked to Wooden Spoon is the JustGiving platform – we automatically get the funds.
• Go to https://www.justgiving.com and register
• It will ask whether you are fundraising for a charity – tick Yes
• Search for a charity – Wooden Spoon (two separate words) and you should see the Wooden Spoon logo and our Charity number. RCN326691, SC039247.
• You can now set up a simple page (or link to an event e.g. a specific Marathon – you should then appear in searches and it would give you a default running picture)
• Either way, the default Wooden Spoon introduction will be added. You can then customise with photos, your own story, why you’re doing your chosen challenge or fundraising activity – if you’re doing an event, make sure you put the name of the event and date that you’re doing the challenge into your copy too.
• Don’t forget to include your fundraising target minimum – or a higher amount that you want to aim for. It helps others to see what you need or are looking to accomplish.
Wooden Spoon’s page on JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/woodenspoon
Please do let us know about your Fundraising page and fundraising –send us the link to your page.
Email to: challenges@woodenspoon.org.uk
Launching your fundraising & ongoing communications
share your link to your
FUNDRAISING PAGE
Once you have your fundraising page set up, you can share your fundraising page link with your friends, family, work colleagues or team mates to ask them to sponsor you for your chosen activity and to help you raise funds for Wooden Spoon.
You can use information in this pack to help you communicate about Wooden Spoon, so you have fresh content to use when you communicate at different stages, for example:
• Use the infographic shown on page 3.
• Utilise the case studies shown in this pack on page 5 or you can direct your contacts to the recent projects on our website, to show the types of projects we support.
• Make use of assets (see page 10 to help you) – this includes social media assets and our videos.
Once you get the first person to sponsor you, you may find it helps to generate more momentum – and you will soon see others sponsoring you! Some people even sponsor themselves, showing their dedication to fundraising for the charity.
Gift Aid
– such as Gift aid and Matched giving maximise your fundraising there are other ways to
Where your contacts are sponsoring you, remind them, that if eligible, to gift aid their donation. Gift Aid will be part of the JustGiving platform process, if your contacts sponsor you there.
Gift Aid statements include for example:
Boost your donation by 25p of Gift Aid for every £1 you donate
Gift Aid is reclaimed by the charity from the tax you pay for the current tax year. Your address is needed to identify you as a current UK taxpayer.
In order to Gift Aid your donation you must tick the box below:
I want to Gift Aid my donation of £ __________ and any donations I make in the future or have made in the past 4 years to:
Name of Charity .........................................................................................................................................
I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay any difference.
MATCHED GIVING
Many employers will match £1 for £1 for staff taking part in charity fundraising. Check with your boss or Human Resources team.
You may also want to do some additional fundraising activities to further strengthen your efforts (see later in this pack – Fundraising Tips and Ideas on page 12).
SPOON
We have some social media images on our website that you can use to help you raise funds for us. These can be found at:
www.woodenspoon.org.uk/fundraise-for-us/ fundraising-toolkit/social-media-graphics/
@charityspoon
Videos about Wooden Spoon
You can share or link to our videos
www.youtube.com/user/ WoodenSpoonTV
When using social media link into your fundraising page that you have set up and link into Wooden Spoon social media. Use the hashtags:
#charityspoon
#TacklingDisadvantage
#HelpingKidsThroughRugby
You can follow us on our social media too:
www.linkedin.com/company/wooden-spoon-charity www.facebook.com/WoodenSpoonCharity www.instagram.com/CharitySpoon/ www.twitter.com/CharitySpoon
2025 | PAGE 12
FUNDRAISING TIPS AND IDEAS
If you’re looking to bolster your fundraising, below are some ideas for inspiration and to help get you started with additional activity. You might want to consider hosting a takeaway food night with a group of friends or why not try organising a coffee and cake morning. There’s plenty more fundraising ideas our website.
Visit: www.woodenspoon.org.uk/fundraise-for-us/fundraising-toolkit
Do also check our top tips for running a successful event including a checklist and keeping safe when planning your fundraising:
Pass the rugby ball
How many rugby ball passes can you do in a set time limit, such as a minute? Try this with friends, work colleagues or teammates – ask people to sponsor you an amount per pass.
Sweepstake
Pick any tournament such as the Six Nations or Rugby World Cup and do a lucky dip between friends for your teams, for a small donation each, such as £5. Whoever gets the winning team receives half the proceeds and donates the other half to Wooden Spoon.
Quiz
Host a quiz at your work, local club or pub – ask everyone to pay an entry fee, buy a small prize for the winner and donate the proceeds to Wooden Spoon. It could be about rugby or a general quiz.
How many rugby ball passes
can you do in a minute?
WOODEN SPOON FUNDRAISING PACK
WAys to pay in
If you are fundraising and it is not directly going to your JustGiving page, to ensure the money comes to Wooden Spoon, you can do the below. Please ensure you provide additional details as mentioned below.
Online:
Pay by using your debit or credit card on our Donate page: www.woodenspoon.org.uk/donate
Please email us at: finance@woodenspoon.org.uk after you have made the online donation – to tell us your name, how you raised your money, what it is sponsorship for, the date that you made the online donation via our website and the name you entered on the Donate form.
Post:
Send a cheque made payable to Wooden Spoon Society with a note giving your name, how you raised your money, what it is sponsorship for. Send to Wooden Spoon at: Wooden Spoon, Sentinel House, Ancells Business Park, Harvest Crescent, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 2UZ.
By BACS:
Account name: Wooden Spoon Society
Account number: 43071308
Sort code: 20-97-58
Remember to enter the details of your fundraising challenge in the information section of your transfer.
