On May 25th, one of the two Honorary Presidents from Scotland, Gavin Hastings, unveiled the plaque during the official opening ceremony for the refurbished/extended IT and English classroom block at Butterstone New School, near Dunkeld in Perthshire.

Butterstone New School is aimed at those children who find mainstream schooling a real struggle, but for whom current special school provision is inappropriate.

The New School is a mixed secondary school for children from 12 to 18 with capacity for 44 children. Spoon was the major funder for the project, contributing £35,000 with further significant support coming from The Gannochy Trust.

In attendance were Bart McGettrick-Chairman of Governors, Gavin and his wife Dianne, Andrew Wilson-Headmaster and Lady Linklater, the founder of the School. Representing Spoon were Philip Blunden, projects co-ordinator and Spoon trustee, Steuart Howie. 

Later that same evening .....

The Scottish Rugby Union held their Annual Awards Dinner in the President's Suite at Murrayfield Stadium. Presided over by Andy Irvine, SRU President and ably compered by Jill Douglas of BBC Sport, the evening included an element of fundraising in the shape of a raffle with the £2661 coming to Spoon. 

Spoon Representatives helped source some of the great prizes used in the raffle. Philip Blunden, the Spoon Projects Co-ordinator, and his wife, Maureen, were in attendance to help celebrate the great day for Spoon Scotland that went from a new project opening to a benefiting dinner in a single day!  

Charlie Bryden, the Regional Chair for Scotland Spoon (seen above) spoke to the audience of 350 who came from clubs all around Scotland, about the great work of the charity and showed the Spoon DVD.

The Spoon message was further reinforced at the end of the evening as the guest speaker was Dave Trick (seen at right) who, as ever, was superbly entertaining. Spoon would like to thank the SRU for all it's help in promoting the valuable work of Wooden Spoon across the country and in Scotland in particular. 

And in Ulster...

At the Oaklands Respite and Assessment Unit, the region provided an additional bedroom and ensuite bathroom and the necessary building work to convert an attached garage for £21,000. The project was opened by Dr. Jack Kyle OBE for children between 5 and 18 with learning disabilities.  Oaklands is part of a quiet development of semi-detached bungalows on the outskirts of Armagh which has been converted by the Armagh and Dungannon Health and Social Services Trust. Whilst Spoon initially thought this was a reasonable small project, Mrs. Mary Donnelly, the Manager of Oaklands when welcoming everyone said “When you consider Spoon’s involvement provides 365 nights of respite care, then viewed like that it is not small at all – we have a number of autistic children on our books who can’t share bedroom accommodation with other children and this facility was a dream come true and much appreciated by the children, parents and staff involved.” Jack Kyle added “From my own background of helping children in need of medical care, the quickest and best way for children to improve was to give them as pleasant surroundings as possible during their time of need and recover. Having had a look at the facilities in Oaklands it was very much a home from home”. He wished everyone, especially the children, well in their new premises.

In the afternoon, the Spooners then travelled to Longstone Riding for the Disabled in the grounds of Longstone Hospital in Armagh. There, Ulster Spoon provided much-needed funds for an extension and alterations to the clubhouse, with disabled toilets, shower room and stables for £29,000.  A very modest clubhouse was erected on the site in 1991 by Spoon but time had taken its toll and the committee felt it was no longer suitable for this day and age. This project was opened by Willie John McBride MBE. Mrs. Moira Kerr, Honorary Chairperson of Longstone RDA welcomed the committee and stressed that without Spoon’s help, none of this would have taken place. She thanked Ulster Spoon Committee and Spoon nationally for their “leap of faith” which had transformed the site out of all recognition. Fred Wilkinson, a fundraiser and parent at Longstone said that non one should underestimate the difference RDA makes for all the children who attend. When his own son first experienced riding, Fred said that “money could not buy the benefit he got out of it”. Roger Davies, Chair of Spoon, said his hobbies included equestrian evening and horse racing and said that the new facilities were “second to none”. All credit must to got Moira and her committee for seeing this magnificent project through to conclusion. 

Steve McClean, the General Manager of TNT Northern Ireland attended the opening as a “Seeing is Believing” Day. Also in attendance members of the Armagh Rugby Club, who raise money for Spoon throughout the year. Another Spoon member of ARFC, Michael Boyd, who is running the Belfast Marathon and the famed Marathon des Sables on behalf of Spoon in 2008. He had his Spoon running gear presented to him by Willie John and has already raised £2,000 for Spoon.  Once the clubhouse was opened and everyone had a look around the premises, the RDA Committee treated everyone present to an open air lunch in the sunshine in the courtyard whilst the young people paraded from the stables into the arena for a very impressive display of horse-riding.