Gloucestershire Chairman
Rob York
Honorary President
The Earl Bathurst
Wooden Spoon Gloucestershire has raised more than £540,000 and supported over 20 projects since 2002. These projects aim to improve the lives of children and young people with disabilities or facing disadvantage, within the local community.
Our annual dinners alone have contributed £150,000 worth of funds to local projects and, following its promising debut in 2013, our Rugby Club Golf Competition has become a regular fixture on the Wooden Spoon events calendar.
Longlevens RFC Festival
Through the power of rugby, Wooden Spoon Gloucestershire are committed to increasing the opportunities available to children in the area. This was perfectly illustrated at a ground-breaking round robin rugby tournament between three special education needs schools held at Longlevens RFC. The three schools were The Milestone School (Gloucester), Alderman Knight (Tewkesbury) and Belmont School (Cheltenham).
Richard Steward, who put the tournament together, runs the outreach program out of Longlevens RFC. He coordinated the tournament as an end of season highlight, which followed a program of training at each school.
The program was made possible though the efforts of Wooden Spoon, Longlevens RFC, Active Gloucestershire, Chamwell Centre and the three schools.
Richard, said: “The tournament was the perfect way to finish off the seasons training. As far as I am aware it is the first event of its kind in Europe with SEN schools competing against each other. It really illustrates the power of sport to bring people together.”
Wooden Spoon Gloucestershire Chair, Rob York, said: “Sport, and rugby in particular, can be such a powerful way to achieve social inclusivity. All who took part in the recent tournament thoroughly enjoyed it.
“It really makes you think about the huge impact this project has had on the special needs children. They didn’t have access to play rugby before this project was in place, especially in a place like Gloucestershire.
“I have heard that fitness levels are up, confidence is high, and new friendships made which is what it’s all about. We are very proud of the children and pleased to be playing our part in the project.”
More information
You can see a variety of projects we have funded in the tab below.
If you would like to volunteer or fundraise for Gloucestershire, please get in touch, or visit our how can you help page.
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Twitter: @CharitySpoonGL
Wooden Spoon Gloucestershire has funded a wide range of projects from sensory rooms to wheelchair rugby to outdoor play areas.
