Wooden Spoon charity lunch raises money for children's causes

Guests and youngsters at the Wooden Spoon charity lunch. Fylde resident, and chairman of World Rugby, Bill Beaumont, is pictured second from right Picture: Rachel Lambert (Rachel Emma Creatives)

The 21st Wooden Spoon annual charity luncheon took place at the Village Hotel in Blackpool, and was attended by more than 400 guests.

The event, sponsored by Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (Canaccord), was attended by 47 local businesses and has raised £30,000 for local projects in Lancashire.

The guest of honour and main speaker was Ian Robertson, former BBC commentator and Scottish international rugby star.

Sir Bill Beaumont, the current chairman of World Rugby, was also in attendance and spoke about the projects he has been involved in on behalf of the Wooden Spoon charity, together with some of his recent experiences in Japan at the World Cup.

Comedian Mick Miller created a great deal of laughter in the room and the Master of Ceremonies, Joey Blower, continued to entertain the guests and raise funds in his inimitable style.

Founded in 1983, Wooden Spoon funds around 70 projects in the UK every year to support disadvantaged and disabled children.

Canaccord has partnered with the charity for five years, during which time it has been a sole sponsor of the west coast annual lunch.

Dudley Warnes, Head of Business Development at Canaccord’s Blackpool office, said: “Once again the event was a tremendous success and raised a lot of money for fantastic causes, all of which will be spent locally.

“We are really proud of supporting the effort to transform the lives of children and young people in Lancashire and congratulate all the hard-working volunteers at Wooden Spoon for making this happen.

“We look forward to participating in the delivery of Wooden Spoon’s projects in the future.”

Martin Long, Chairman, Wooden Spoon West Lancashire added: “We are really pleased at the success of this year’s annual lunch and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved.

“It was a very enjoyable and entertaining event, which was made possible by the generosity of our supporters and of course Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management.”

Wooden Spoon is the children’s charity of rugby. It funds projects that support children and young people with disabilities or living in disadvantage.

The charity’s focus is to help children and young people through projects such as sensory rooms, playground and outdoor activities, health and wellbeing and specialist equipment.