ST GEORGE SLAYS 'EM AGAIN.

RIPON RUFC PROVE THERE IS MORE THAN RACES IN THE CITY!

On 14th June 2013, for 9 days, David Fenton and Brod Crawford will cycle from Killarney to Fort William and along the way climb each of the highest mountains in Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. That's 700 miles and 15,000ft! This is an alternative take on the Wooden Spoon 4 Peaks event. The difference is we will attempt it in reverse order and cycle rather than drive,taking 9 days instead of the 2 we would do it in travelling by car. The 234Spoon name represents the 2 bikes, 3 blokes - to recognise our support drivers, and 4 peaks we will ascend.

Join us for Yorkshire Spoon's Annual Touch Rugby Event 2013!

Stirring Smiles in East Riding

Not a yellow or red card in sight - just sheer delight!

Please join Wooden Spoon Yorkshire for the annual St George's Day Dinner Celebration.

A Luncheon with Sir Ian McGeechan and John Bentley - An entertaining afternoon guaranteed! With guest speaker 'Lion Man' Sir Ian McGeechan and and open forum for questions and answers with John Bentley.

Yorkshire committee members, Mich Dearman, Alison Lowe, Nigel Shaw and Richard Tully turned out to present the 2012/13 season 1st XV certificates to a small number of our generous sponsors.

Have you received your copy of Spoonews and do we have an email address for you?

The sun shone brightly on Tuesday 9th October 2012 for the opening of the All Inclusive Outdoor Play Area at the Broomfield South (SILC) School in Leeds.

Yorkshire Spoon were most honoured when the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentimu, attended the final phase of openings at the Hessle Road Youth centre on October 4th 2012.

Almost 24 years to the day since her father visited Mirfield and launched the E AUSTEN JOHNSON, the Princess Royal returned to re-launch the canal barge after a few years of inactivity.

On the 12th September 2012 Yorkshire Spoon were delighted to return to the Rowan School in Sheffield to re-open the school's sensory room.

Merlot's Mates, Adam, Mark and Mike and of course Ross in the van, duly completed their Lands End to John O'Groats cycle challenge on Sunday 26th of August after a gruelling 9 days of adventure on the high roads of England and Scotland.

Rowing for Children is a charity event hosted by Wooden Spoon and the Safe Anchor Trust. The partnership came about when Wooden Spoon agreed to donate £20,000 to the Safe Anchor Trust to help with a major refurbishment project, that HRH Princess Anne will be opening in October. It was at this point Stephen Brook came up with a truly unique and inspiring way to raise funds for both charities.

Yorkshire committee member Adam Hirst was delighted to reach the warm confines of the Craven Heifer Inn at Skipton where he was met by friends and supporters on home soil. Along with bikers Mike and Mark and driver Ross we were appraised of the "little bit of a shunt" that Adam took when descending Holme Moss at 45 mph! His chain came off which caused him to come off and land in a heap of grazed skin and bone and a twisted frame of a bike! By all accounts Adam was lucky to survive the 'chute' and required no more than cursory treatment by the roadside! Which is more than could be said for the bike which had to be taken to the bike shop in Doncaster for extensive repairs.

Yorkshire Spoon contributed £25,000.00 to the new Sensory Theatre at the Pathways school in Castleford. The sensory room now has the most up to date technology which will help the pupils with their learning and development.

Friday June 22nd marked the official opening of Spoon's latest commitment to the city of Sheffield.

Event Chairman of Ripon RUFC, Jeremy Horsell presented Yorkshire Spoon with a cheque for £1135, on behalf of the clubs President Andy Proud. These funds were raised at the clubs 125th Anniversary Celebration Day on Sunday 22nd April, where they were well supported by Yorkshire Spoon and the Wooden Spoon Anti- Assassins XV, who beat them in the main match!

The Industrial Agents Society (IAS) is a dedicated body of commercial property agents specialising in warehousing and industrial property. Throughout the year the IAS has worked hard to raise valuable funds of £1000 for Yorkshire Spoon through annual subscriptions, a annual golf day held at Bingley St Ives, a day out at York Races and a Christmas party held in Leeds. The Chairman of the Northern region, Dave Robinson, specifically chose Wooden Spoon as the IAS charity of choice because of the work the charity does with disadvantaged children and young people across the country. He has also been involved with the Wooden Spoon rugby team for several years.
Yorkshire Spoon would like to say a big thank you to Dave Robinson.
For more information on IAS visit www.shedshifters.co.uk

Yorkshire Spoon's annual get together in the Rowell's Suite at Ripon was exceedingly well attended once again.

On a day more suited to polar bear hunting or igloo building in the arctic the 2nd BSFDC proved yet again just how far the human spirit will push the human body! It proved yet again that this event wasn't only about the lycra loving sporty pedal pushers but characters such as last man home, Sid who had been abandoned by his team-mates but who had raised lots of cash so refused to abandon. Sid set out at 8.30 am and got in at 7:30pm. What a great example of fortitude and sheer willpower. Two young brewery employees Mel Brice and Ellie Best managed to get round the 60 miles course and finished a long time after everyone else on the shorter route. Stuart Watson and the other members of the BBOB team (Big Boys on Bikes) narrowly avoided the Wooden Spoon due to the intervention of Andy Farrell from Clemo and his supply of liquid soap!

Billed as 'a celebration of Ripon Rugby - Past, Present, and Future', the day kicked off early with a very well supported Mini Tag Rugby demonstration from the youngest members of the Ripon rugby community, Ripon's thriving Junior section. Youngsters from the Under7's and Under 8's all received a Wooden Spoon wristband presented by Ripon legend Peter Squires (England, Yorkshire, Harrogate and Barbarians) ably supported by the Junior Section's founder member Mike Pennock.

Under the excellent leadership of Bill Reichwald the 5th Six Nations' Dinner was held at Baldwin's Omega Dining Rooms in Sheffield. Once again we were treated to a culinary delight featuring a dish from each of the 6 Nations and including the wonderfully flowery "Parisienne Bretagne Homard en Cocotte." All beautifully served without a Gallic shrug of indifference in sight!

Once again the Yorkshire Spoon lunch, generously sponsored by kcom, was a sell out and 505 Spooners and their guests enjoyed the seasonal fare and entertainment. The latter was supplied by Jason Leonard, Ian Irving and wonderfully held together by MC Roger Dakin who has become a firm favourite here in Yorkshire.

Pupils, staff, carers, parents and Yorkshire Spoon Members had the 5* treatment of an official opening of the Food Technology Room by Michelin Star Chef James Mackenzie.

Rugby League legend Johnny Whiteley MBE officially opened the Wooden Spoon Café at the Hessle Road Young Peoples Centre in Hull on Wednesday 3rd November. The Centre serves approximately 1,500 young people in the Hessle Road area providing them with a range of activities to participate in.

Yorkshire's very own fund-raisers, Derek Sherlock, Dave Holmes and Dave Watson all former team mates at Sheffield RUFC set out in their classic vehicles on a cross channel venture along with Nigel Parsons. Objectives were threefold, one to test their vehicles on a long run, two to test themselves on a long run and thirdly raise a few thousand pounds for Wooden Spoon. A laudable aim!
Here's how they got on…………………….

The Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Dr Sylvia Dunkley, David Knaggs, Regional Chairman of Yorkshire and Head Teacher, Avril Young were joined by enthusiastic fundraisers from TNT's Rotherham Depot at a special ceremony to celebrate the return to the school nine months after flood damage.

The Hull & East Riding Branch of Yorkshire Wooden Spoon held their inaugural Wooden Spoon Dinner at The Willerby Manor Hotel on Friday 16th September 2011. This first venture was deemed a great success raising over £5,000 for the Wooden Spoon!

A tremendous field of 37 teams played out the Sheffield Golf Day at Sickleholme on Friday September 2nd and we were all blessed with the finest of weather and glorious views on this the most picturesque of courses. Competition was keen with local knowledge proving to be a distinct advantage as the 'homers' showed up well on the leader board.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that one can have a great deal of fun with a ball!

The inaugural "Firkin Challenge" took place with seven teams entered and five finishers! Such was the challenge of riding the picturesque 82 mile route between the old Hartley's brewery in Ulverston to the Black Sheep brewery in Masham.

Once again the annual race day at Ripon proved a great success and 80 Spooners, sponsors and their guests enjoyed another good day at the races.

Children, staff, carers, governors, parents and Yorkshire Spoon members turned out in great numbers to see Wakefield Trinity Wildcat's player Glenn Morrison and son officially open the £15,000 sensory room on the 28th April.

Organisers of this year's event were somewhat legged up by the calendar when St George's Day fell on a Saturday and the nearest Friday fell on Good Friday! Undaunted we settled for a sort of "Good George's Day" on the 15th April and over 200+ seats were sold for this prestigious event.

On a cold and windswept day in the East Riding, Spoon committee members were invited to the "topping out" ceremony at the Hessle Rd church Hull on Monday 30th March. Yorkshire Spoon were delighted to commit £40,000 towards the provision of a Wooden Spoon Cafe that will soon be part of the new youth centre.

Take part in our Wooden Spoon National Lottery 2011.

Four former Rugby Union teammates are joining together to complete a driving challenge to raise money for the Wooden Spoon - the children's charity of rugby.

It's not often that we in the frozen north are visited by HRH Princess Royal but twice in six months is a real rarity.

Baldwin's Omega restaurant was once again filled to capacity for the fourth 6 Nations Dinner.

90 mile charity bike ride challenge in aid Wooden Spoon, the children's charity of rugby

Over 500 people were once again regally entertained at Yorkshire's annual sporting spectacular at the Queens's Hotel Leeds on 17th December 2010.

Years of fundraising and hard work got the Royal seal of approval on 15th September 2010, when the Princess Royal officially opened Haworth Riding for the Disabled group's new Wooden Spoon indoor training arena.

Leeds and Carnegie hooker, Steve Thompson MBE opened the Wooden Spoon Play Areas at Eckersley House in Leeds on 28th September 2010.

The 4th annual Sheffield Golf day was held in wonderful weather on Friday September 3rd 2010 at the picturesque Sickleholme Golf Club near to Lady Bower reservoir in the Peak District.