Wooden Spoon furlough staff in response to COVID-19

Wooden Spoon, the children’s charity of rugby, has announced today that we have furloughed seven of our 12 staff members under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in response to the impact of COVID-19.  

You may have seen we have postponed or cancelled the majority of our national and regional events taking place in Spring and Summer and are taking proactive measures to adapt to the effects of the global pandemic.   

Wooden Spoon has paused a number of our fundraising and administration activities during the furlough period and will now operate with a skeleton staff to ensure essential activities can continue. 

Sarah Webb, Wooden Spoon CEO said: “Our priority is to protect our charity, ensuring it can continue to operate into the future and carry out our vital work of transforming the lives of children and young people with disabilities or facing disadvantage across the UK and Ireland. 

“We anticipate that COVID-19 will have a significant impact on our income, particularly in the first half of this financial year and the responsible action is to act now. 

“I would like to thank our staff, our volunteers and our Board of Trustees who have worked tirelessly in the last few weeks to adapt and respond to the unprecedented challenges that the global pandemic brings.  I am extremely proud to be part of such a dedicated team.” 

The staff on furlough stopped work on Tuesday 31 March and Wooden Spoon will continue to keep the situation under review.  

There are a number of ways you can support Wooden Spoon during this uncertain period, please visit how can you help, to find out more.