Wooden Spoon Outcomes Report - 2015-16

Match report 2015-2016 woodenspoon.org.uk #wearerugby

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Contents Welcome 4 Who needs our help?

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Our vision

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Our values

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Wheelchair rugby

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A special relationship

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Who needs our help? page 5

Volunteering 10 A new school playground 11

“I have seen first-hand how Wooden Spoon is changing the lives of children and young people. It truly is amazing.”

Building brighter futures

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Our values

Near you

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Our finances

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Projects in numbers

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Corporate partnerships

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Membership 17 Events and challenges

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Get involved

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Contact us

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Get involved page 19

Phil Vickery, MBE – Wooden Spoon Lead Ambassador woodenspoon.org.uk

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Local children and young people need us Wooden Spoon is the children’s charity of rugby, funding life-changing projects across the UK and Ireland to support disadvantaged and disabled children and young people.

At Wooden Spoon we believe that every child and young person, no matter what their background, should have access to the same opportunities.

That is why we are here, going strong, 33 years on. We are, and have always been, committed to changing the lives of children and young people across the UK and Ireland through the power of rugby.

2015-2016 has been an important year for us. We have built a solid fundraising and support team, collaborated with our volunteers more than ever and in doing so we have been able to help more children and young people than ever before.

But there is still a lot of work to do.

As we move into 2017 we will need to continue to evolve to meet the growing need for our support. With the help of a wide range of our stakeholders and our volunteers in our regions, we are looking at our strategy for the future to ensure we are providing the best support possible to children with a disability or facing disadvantage across the UK and Ireland. woodenspoon.org.uk

You can read about some of our exciting plans already set out. There is our life-changing campaign to get more young people playing wheelchair rugby (p8), we have set up an exciting new initiative with Riding for the Disabled Association (p9) and we continue to fund a wide range of projects that focus on health and wellbeing, sensory rooms and gardens, specialist equipment and facilities, playgrounds and outdoor activities (p11) and education projects.

In everything that we do, we aspire for a future that uses the power of rugby to enable all children and young people to have the same opportunities, no matter what their background.

We believe we can make this change.

We just need your continued help.

With best wishes, John Gibson, Chairman

5% 8%

Over 1 in 20 children in the UK and Ireland have a disability Only 8% of families with a child with a disability get support from their local social services

3x

It costs up to three times as much to raise a disabled child as it does to raise a child without disabilities

25 %

A quarter of families with disadvantaged children are single parent families

41 %

41 per cent of children in single parent families live in relative poverty, around twice the risk of relative poverty faced by children in couple parent families

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London has the most deprivation in the UK and Ireland

Sources: Gov UK: 2014, Disabled Living Foundation: 2016, ONS: 2015, Disability Federation Ireland 2012.

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Our vision Through the power of rugby every child and young person, no matter what their background, has access to the same opportunities.

Our values We are inspired by our rugby roots.

Our values of passion, integrity, teamwork and fun drive everything we do. woodenspoon.org.uk

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Getting passionate about wheelchair rugby

Working as a team helps more children

Rugby has always defined Wooden Spoon.

Our roots lie in rugby and our future is shaped by it.

Wooden Spoon and Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) have been working together for many years. This year we launched an exciting new initiative where Wooden Spoon supporters can sponsor a horse for disabled and vulnerable children and young people.

Alan, 23 lives in Cork, Ireland and plays wheelchair rugby for Munster Wheelchair Rugby Club. Alan suffers from Brittle Bone disease and he was limited by what he could do. To alleviate the boredom he spent his days hanging around on the streets with his mates.

Alan said: “I’ve become a lot more independent since playing wheelchair rugby. Before I wouldn’t really push myself and got my Mum to do everything for me.”

Alan’s Mum, Teresa said: “It’s been life-changing. He’s grown in confidence and made a lot of new friends. He’s also been half way around the world playing wheelchair rugby.”

Munster Wheelchair Rugby Club coach, Finbarr said: “Wheelchair rugby challenges misconceptions around disability. People often think if you’re in a wheelchair, you are fragile, where as the sport proves that wrong.” woodenspoon.org.uk/wheelchair-rugby

“I’ve become a lot more independent since playing wheelchair rugby.”

Wooden Spoon Scotland and RDA in Scotland have had a long running relationship where the Scottish region has funded a number of projects.

As part of our support, we have funded a horse for the RDA, ‘William Wooden Spoon’.

William is bigger and enables larger young people to ride and all children and young people to take part in vaulting.

Sue Cammin from RDA said: “We had a young man with autism who had no people skills, who hated being touched and could not look anyone in the eye. We put him on William and he could walk and feel the canter and worked together with other young people as part of a team, building his social skills and confidence.

“William also enabled a young girl with cerebral palsy, who was very weak down one side, to balance on the horse, building her core muscles and increasing her mobility.

“Wooden Spoon has made a difference to thousands of children’s lives in Scotland through their support of RDA. It has been great to have your support.”

“Wooden Spoon has made a difference to thousands of children’s lives in Scotland through their support of RDA.”

To find out more visit woodenspoon.org.uk/rda woodenspoon.org.uk

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Volunteering is at the heart of our community Wooden Spoon is extremely proud of our volunteer network with over 400 dedicated men and women raising local funds for local projects in communities across the UK and Ireland.

Brian Hodges, who has been on the Wooden Spoon Surrey committee since 2001 and Chairman since 2014 said: “Our regional committee raised over £28,000 in 2015-2016.

“Every year we put on a range of events which always includes a Sportsman’s Dinner and a Regional Golf Day. We secure sponsorship from local golf clubs together with donations from local rugby clubs and fundraise at our local Premiership Club, Harlequins RFC. We also host a biennial Treorchy Choir event.”

Wooden Spoon Surrey has been able to fund a range of more than 30 projects in the county including a family apartment at a children’s hospice, a number of sensory and play rooms at a special needs schools, outdoor activity and adventure areas and a youth activity centre at a charity for disadvantaged young people.

Brian added: “The motivation is seeing the smiles on the children’s faces and the heartfelt thanks from the parents, teachers and carers who are benefiting from our support. It really makes a difference being able to see first-hand where the money we raise is spent.”

Making learning fun Wooden Spoon fund a range of projects, which are not just rugby focused, supporting approximately 70 projects a year including respite and medical treatment centres, sensory rooms, specialist playgrounds and community based programmes.

Wooden Spoon Wales donated £10,000 to provide new outdoor teaching facilities at Nantyffyllon Primary School, Maesteg, which were opened in September 2015.

The funds enabled the school to build two outdoor classrooms to provide much needed space for teaching and one-to-one tuition for children with complex needs.

Headteacher, Adele Thomas said: “As a school we are desperate to improve our children's life chances and learning experiences.

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“Many of our children do not have access to the outdoors and our school itself is surrounded by a concrete jungle. Wooden Spoon have generously provided us with an outdoor area where our children can have an enhanced learning experience, during and after school hours.”

Wooden Spoon fund a range specialist equipment and facilities projects. To find out more about the types of projects we fund visit woodenspoon.org.uk/projects 01252 773720

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Building brighter futures through rugby Wooden Spoon is committed to actively engaging with socially disadvantaged children and young people not in education, employment or training.

One of the biggest community projects we support is the award-winning Premiership Rugby HITZ programme.

Harnessing the power of 12 Premiership Rugby clubs, HITZ uses rugby to support young people living in desperate situations to turn their lives around. It helps them develop a focus and learn vital life skills.

It gives them the skills to get back into education, vocational training, apprenticeships and employment.

HITZ Young Achiever of the Year in 2015, Relon, 18, has no hesitation admitting that he had previously been going down the wrong path, but having joined the HITZ programme with Northampton Saints, training at Franklin Gardens, accessing sports like rugby and basketball have proved a healthy outlet for his frustrations.

Relon said: “I was a bad boy. I was on the streets doing some bad things but then I came to HITZ. “I am a better person now. I am starting to get my grades and levels up and then I can start getting in the big leagues.

It’s not just about rugby, it is about achieving goals.

“I’d be in the gutter without HITZ.”

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“It’s not just about rugby, it is about achieving goals.”

Relon, aged 18

Near you 1 Bedfordshire 2 Bristol & Bath 3 Chilterns 4 Cornwall 5 Cumbria 6 Devon 7 Dorset 8 Durham 9 Eastern Counties 10 Gloucestershire 11 Guernsey 12 Hampshire 13 Hertfordshire 14 Isle of Man 15 Jersey 16 Kent 17 Lancashire 18 Leicestershire 19 Leinster 20 London 21 Manchester

& Cheshire 22 Merseyside 23 Northamptonshire 24 Northumberland 25 Nottinghamshire 26 Oxfordshire 27 Scotland 28 Shropshire 29 Somerset 30 Surrey 31 Sussex 32 Ulster 33 Wales 34 Warwickshire 35 West Midlands 36 Wiltshire 37 Worcestershire 38 Yorkshire

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Wooden Spoon has a strong regional footprint with 38 volunteer groups across the UK and Ireland. They are raising funds locally and working tirelessly to fund local projects in your area.

Visit woodenspoon.org.uk/near-you to discover more about our work close to you 01252 773720

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Our finances

Projects in numbers

In 2015-2016, with your help, we funded 73 projects which helped over 71,000 children with a disability or facing disadvantage across the UK and Ireland.

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£1.2 million

We have funded 73 projects

Funds generated £1,311,000

Charitable activities £1,260,000

Funds to invest £51,000

8 Buildings and extensions

3 Transport for projects

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We have donated £1.2 million

4 Health and wellbeing projects

1 Disability rugby club

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Education projects

Sensory rooms and gardens

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Playground and outdoor activities

Equipment and activity aids

Specialist equipment and facilities

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Corporate partnerships Wooden Spoon relies on the incredible generosity of its corporate partners to help fund and support the wide range and breadth of our work.

In 2015-2016, we welcomed support from a range of organisations supporting us in a variety of ways including donations, sponsorship, staff fundraising, gifts in kind and volunteering.

Rugby Tots

Be part of our fun and passionate family Donating is one of the easiest ways to support our life-changing work, and if you donate at least £40 per year (or £4 per month) you will automatically become a member of Wooden Spoon.

Here are some of the highlights:

“Supporting Wooden Spoon is hugely rewarding.

The regional structure allows our franchisees to raise funds and local awareness alongside our national fundraising activities. It’s great to see the money we raise going to such a worthy cause.”

Max Webb, Managing Director

“TNT is delighted to be celebrating its 20th year supporting Wooden Spoon, during which time we have raised over £3.6m to help disabled and disadvantaged children across the UK.”

As a member of our rugby family you will get: • Entry into exclusive draws to win great prizes including rugby tickets • A free Wooden Spoon gift • Two issues of our bi-annual magazine, Spoonews

scrum join today!

• Regular updates about the projects we are supporting and our beneficiaries

TNT

The funds you donate will help us make a vital difference to disadvantaged and disabled children across the UK and Ireland.

Daniel Vines, Director of Sales TNT UK (Domestic)

Youngs

“We have really enjoyed and benefited from supporting Wooden Spoon this year. Our Players at the Pumps events, which we ran across London during the Rugby World Cup, were particularly successful and contributed to us raising over £100,000 for Wooden Spoon in 2015-2016. We look forward to continuing our partnership into 2017.”

Andy Nash, Youngs

woodenspoon.org.uk

Sign up today at woodenspoon.org.uk/member or call 01252 773720 01252 773720

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There are lots of ways to get involved

Events and challenges Wooden Spoon regularly has a wide range of events happening up and down the country. We would love you to get involved.

Sailing Regatta September 2017

Leave us a Gift in your Will Make a donation

Become a member Make us your Charity of the Year at work or school

The Rugby Ball February 2017

Virgin London Marathon Join our Partner Club Programme

April 2017

Share our news on social media

Scrum Dine with Me October 2017

Golf Days Throughout 2017

To sign up, or for a full list of events near to you visit woodenspoon.org.uk/events or call 01252 773720 woodenspoon.org.uk

Volunteer

However you get involved, you will be helping us positively transform the lives of disadvantaged and disabled children and young people across the UK and Ireland through the power of rugby.

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Get in touch today: w: woodenspoon.org.uk t: 01252 773720 e: charity@woodenspoon.org.uk

Wooden Spoon is a company Limited by Guarantee. Reg Office Address: 115-117 Fleet Road, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 3PD Company Reg No: 1847860.

Wooden Spoon is a registered charity in England and Wales (Reg No: 326691) and in Scotland (Reg No: SC039247)