• The weakness of the unofficial charity commentator's accusations is that they appear to use a single model that could be used to assess all 180,000 Charities in the UK, regardless of how funds are raised.  Regrettably, the unofficial charity commentator cannot differentiate between a donation-based charity and an event-based charity.  Their model appears assumes all charities are donation based.
  
  
• The unofficial charity commentator has publicly compared Wooden Spoon with Comic Relief and Children In Need, as these are large television backed, donation-based charities the comparison is plainly illogical and irrelevant.
  
  
• The unofficial charity commentator has misunderstood Wooden Spoon’s reports; as we are a charity that sells events to the public, it reports sales of tickets etc within the total revenue. Direct costs to run these events must then be subtracted to arrive at the net contribution from events.  The balance left over is Spoon income. This sum is the equivalent to other charities.
  
  
• The unofficial charity commentator has failed to consider our regional structure of 43 different committees throughout the UK and Ireland, manned entirely by volunteers who arrange their own events with help from a small central staff.  More than 150 events annually are arranged thanks to the goodwill, skills, time and efforts of our volunteers, all of whom share a passion for helping disadvantaged children.
  
  
• The unofficial charity commentator has submitted a formal complaint to the Charity Commission citing that Spoon is remiss in running its charitable activities; Wooden Spoon categorically refutes these unfounded accusations. The complaint has been investigated by the Commission in accordance with their standard procedures. The Commission has completed that investigation and, as we had anticipated, has given us a completely clean bill of health.
  
  
  RESPONSE TO GUARDIAN ARTICLE 29 OCTOBER, 2007
  In addition to the misinformation included on the unofficial charity commentator's website, a feature in the Guardian - “Watchdog blows whistle on rugby charity’s £2m bill for high living”. This raised the following points: 
  
  
• The Trustees of Wooden Spoon refute any allegation of wrongdoing absolutely and unconditionally.  The Charity has good and effective systems and procedures in place for proper governance and management  Our Trustees met with the Charity Commission in 1996 to agree an accounting model, appropriate for events-based fundraising, which was approved and has been strictly adhered to thereafter.
  
  
• The Guardian claimed that Spoon pours ‘more than £2m each year into the cost of entertaining its supporters’ – we do not entertain our supporters at all. They buy and pay for their own tickets which are priced at a level which makes them accessible. Nor has the charity spent £467,000 on ‘fine dining’, this sum is actually the total catering costs incurred by over 150 fund raising events which were attended by more than 20,000 members of the public.  Meal costs per head were on average less than £25 and in almost all instances attendees paid for their own drinks.
  
  
• The piece made reference to a Cardiff dinner, namely that Spoon had staged a lavish event where ‘none of the revenue went to Wooden Spoon and guests were asked to make voluntary donations or bid for lots in a charity auction.’  This event was organised and paid for by a third party, not Spoon. Spoon did benefit from the raffle and auction to the extent of £2,000 for an expenditure of £100!
  
  
• Another allegation was raised regarding Spoon staging unprofitable events and the Iceland Golf Challenge was cited. As part of Spoon’s governance – of which we are immensely proud - events are staged according to printed management guidelines and are subject to rigorous auditing; whilst Spoon believes that events have value beyond raising money, such as networking, increasing the charity’s profile etc, any Spoon-run activity failing to make money is not repeated.
  
  
• The feature suggested that in staging events, Spoon had chosen the least efficient way of generating funds and was in fact undertaking these as a ‘great social wheeze.’ As we have claimed repeatedly, we raise money through events and it works excellently! In the past 6 years alone, we have raised over £7 million for disadvantaged children. In addition our volunteers give countless hours to assist our projects, a resource that cannot be evaluated but we are aware of the gratitude and goodwill this work generates.
  
  
• Spoon was also accused of donating ‘only £1.7million of the £4.4million raised last year’ to charitable causes. The lack of understanding of our work, our accounting model and our fundraising demonstrated by Intelligent Giving has raised this. The relevant comparison is to look at what is donated to charitable projects as a percentage of funds raised including the net income from events. In 2006, this was 81%.
  
  
• The article stated that the Charity Commission had received ‘complaints’ about Wooden Spoon; so far its has only received one complaint and that was made by the unofficial charity commentator.
  
  

THE CHARITY COMMISSION AND THE TRUSTEES
In this section we aim to give Spoon members some insight into the workings of the Charity Commission as well as ensure that stakeholders are aware of the rigorous standards employed by Spoon and its Trustees.

Regarding their complaint to the Charity Commission, in accordance with its standard practice, the Commission is assessing that complaint so that it can decide whether any intervention might be necessary.  They advised that in most cases they do not need to intervene. However, if evidence suggests there may be a risk of harm to the charity's property or to those who use its services, they have a duty to look into the matter further.   

The Trustees of Wooden Spoon are horrified at the suggestion that they may be acting in significant breach of trust and that the Charity’s income is not being used for its proper charitable purposes and refute any allegations of wrongdoing absolutely and unconditionally.

Spoon’s trustees include lawyers, accountants and others who are well briefed on their duties and obligations.

Spoon has an Audit and Governance Committee that constantly looks at the actions of its Trustees, Managers, staff and volunteers.  

Spoon has a detailed guidance and working manual of more than 100 pages to ensure that best practice is followed at all times.  This has been circulated to all relevant stakeholders and is available to anyone working for the charity on request.

Despite being volunteers, not only do some Trustees regularly contribute 2 to 3 days time each week, all Trustees undergo a detailed assessment and appraisal every two years.

Next Steps
Wooden Spoon is considering our options with reference to the key concerns  

• Whilst wishing to refute any allegations publicly, we do not wish to escalate the argument in the media – this will only serve to promote the unofficial charity commentator's apparent desire for publicity.
  
     
• We do plan on hitting back within the public domain but this will be considered, impactful and will move the whole situation forward for the benefit of Spoon.
  
  
• We are exploring regulation of self appointed commentators with The Charity Commission as an industry-wide requirement. Charities having to respond to misinformed accusations of self-promoting bodies, is distracting, a waste of our valuable resources and undermines the excellent work we all do.
  
  
• We recognize that we have been presented with an opportunity to make some useful revisions to how we impart information and how we use our statistics to promote our good work, rather than be misrepresented or maligned.
  
  
  
  THE GOOD NEWS
  
  What makes it all worth while? 
•  With the money raised by Spoon, some incredible things have been achieved and provided for disadvantaged children and young people throughout the UK.
  
  
• In the last 24 years we have given over £13m to a variety of excellent causes.  In the last six we’ve given over £7m to a variety of charitable causes.  Here are just a few of the larger projects that we’ve been able to help in the last three years alone  
    

• £78,000 towards a sensory room at the Children’s Hospice South West
•  £78,000 to a Sports Area at Cam House Special School in Gloucestershire
•  £70,000 for a hydrotherapy pool at Red Marsh School in Lancashire
•  £90,000 to pay for an extension enabling Birkett House Special School to build a Sensory and Play suite
•  £200,000 to the Percy Hedley Foundation for a special-for-disabled sports centre
•  £250,000 to the Scottish Society for Autism for a Gymnasium/Activity Centre
•  £80,000 for an extension and modification of the Craft Workshop at the Rudolph Steiner School, Camphill Community
•  £75,000 for a Fit out centre for socially disadvantaged children for Scotland’s  Children 1st Bfriends 
•  £100,000 to The Dipex Charity’s website to create a teenage area to provide support for teenager cancer sufferers

But don’t take our word for it, this is what some of our recipients have to say:  

Spoon is an incredibly active charity which involves members and supporters in a terrific range of activities.  Last year some 20,000 Spoon supporters were involved in Spoon events from duck racing down the Tyne, lectures on the Zulu Wars, and scaling the Four Peaks through to golf tournaments, dinners and the annual ball at the Hilton Hotel.

We also have strong corporate support from a range of companies including TNT which in the last financial year raised £300,000 for Wooden Spoon.

One of our strengths is our regional structure comprising 43 regional committees which are able to call on the time of 300 regular volunteers.  Last year over 150 events were held by the regional committees.  These took place as far apart as Aberdeen, Belfast, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, mid Wales, Cornwall, Cambridgeshire and London. The profit from each of these regional events is spent on projects which benefit disadvantaged children and young people within that locality.

Finally what makes us different is that our principal supporter base comes from retired rugby players who want to give something back to society usually involving their friends and fellow rugby enthusiasts.

If you require any further information please contact a Regional Chairman or a member of the Spoon Executive Committee