Stalwart hands over the reigns in Warwickshire

Everyone at Wooden Spoon would like to acknowledge and pay our sincere thanks to Ian Holroyd, the longstanding Chairman of Wooden Spoon Warwickshire, as he announces his decision to step down after 15 years of dedicated leadership.
Ian has been hugely committed to raising money in Warwickshire and ensuring that the funds raised support projects that really make an impact throughout Warwickshire. Ian is a truly lovely man who has always given time to support his committee and nurture his members, as well as supporting and sharing his experience with other regional committees. Through his working life he managed and worked with leading sporting greats and has been instrumental in gaining ambassador support for Wooden Spoon at National & Regional events.
We caught up with Ian recently and were pleased to hear that he will continue to support the committee as Honorary President and do everything he can to continue to attend events and share his wider experience.

“I am sorry to step down as Chairman of the Warwickshire Region. I have been chairman for 15 years and have enjoyed the fun and comradeship of my fellow committee members. There has been a very loyal bunch of guys who have stayed as a group for many of these years and this has made the task a lot easier and I am sure John Collins who is taking the role will find it as easy and enjoyable as I have. John is very active within Warwickshire’s rugby scene, he has been an active member of Nuneaton Old Edwardians as well as working with the Warwickshire committee.
I was invited to join the Warwickshire committee in 2015 by Jai Purewal who started the regional committee at that time. The aim was to raise funds for special schools within the county and the first project was a sensory garden at Welcombe Hills School in Stratford which was opened by former England player Tim Stimpson. Since then we have raised funds for over 30 projects totalling over £370,000! The assortment of projects is varied–Sensory rooms, Classrooms for a couple of Farms, Gardens, Riding for the Disabled, Wheelchair Rugby etc. We have been helped by former international rugby players such as Martyn Johnson, Scott Quinnell, Graham Rowntree to name a few who have joined us to open the various projects. I would like to thank all our fundraising supporters who have helped considerably with the Warwickshire membership as well as many very loyal supporters of the charity who have come to our various events as well as making very generous donations to the charity. We are very grateful to all these supporters–without them we would not have been able to support the various projects we’ve chosen.
I’ve been lucky to have invaluable support from committee members at many varied events –The golf day continues to be a very successful day with usually about 30 teams taking part and I have to thank Pat McKeown who has organised every golf event over the many years it has been running. There have been other events—’Go Kart’ racing, Cricket Matches at Rugby School, Days at Warwick Races —all well supported by our friends and members. We were also pleased to make several donations to various food banks in the county.
Another successful event is the annual Christmas Lunch which stared many years ago. The first Lunch was held at Ingen Manor Golf Club with about 70 people present. The event is now held at the CBS Arens in Coventry and the last 2 Lunches had well over 400 present–members, supporters. I do also want to take this opportunity to thank my wife, Vicky, for supporting me and standing by me as I’ve given time to the charity. We’ve had some great times together at WS events and have both enjoyed being part of the Wooden Spoon Family.
Whilst I am now passing on the Chairmans role to John Collins as the time is right, I am sure I will still offer my services and support to the committee –Wooden Spoon is a tremendous charity and I am sure it will continue to be a successful charity, fundraising and granting money to local special projects throughout the country.
Good luck to all our members and supporters within the County—your help during my role of Chairman has been much appreciated”

Ian Holroyd