Charities

This years event will be raising funds for the Help for Heroes and Wooden Spoon.

Help for Heroes

The charity Help for Heroes was launched in October 2007 in response to the desire of ordinary people to do something practical to help our wounded servicemen and women. As individuals weare powerless to prevent war and we feel helpless that we are unable to stop our men and women from being killed and wounded. By joining together as Help for Heroes, we are doing something practical to help; we are doing our bit.

Help for Heroes is very simple; we are strictly non-political, we recognize that wars happen under any government, and we are non critical, preferring to get on with the job rather than talking about rights and wrongs.

Our first task, given to us by General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Head of the Army, was to raise £6million to help provide a swimming pool and gym complex at the tri service rehabilitation centre at Headley Court. With the support of Royalty, TheArmed Forces, Celebrities, the Press and thousands of ordinary, decent people, we achieved that target in our first eight months.

Our first task may be complete, but our job is not and, while our young men and women continue to be wounded, we intend to be there to help. We are pushing on with even more determination, buoyed by the extraordinary support of the public in our first few months, to ensure that the wounded get the best help, support and futures that they deserve.

Our Servicemen and women give more, risk more and sacrifice more, so we believe that they should be given more; we believe they deserve the very best. They say they are not Heroes, that they are just blokes doing their job; we say that anyone who volunteers to join the Armed Forces and serve in time of war is a hero and we want to help our heroes.

Help for Heroes needs to raise a great deal of money and as that money comes in, we will spend it, on improving facilities like the pool complex or the relatives house at Selly Oak and by giving grants to the right organisations to ensure that our wounded get the very best.

This is needed, it is urgent and it is making a very real difference to our Armed Forces. Thank you for your support; we need your help and we need it now.

Wooden Spoon

Wooden Spoon is rugby's charity supporting mentally, physically and socially disadvantaged children and young people. Spoon has committed to over £13 million in spending for projects for children and young people. It has organised over 2,000 events and had over 25,000 ties worn by its loyal members and supporters. Hardworking staff and volunteers have achieved all of this since the birth of the charity.

It all began on a fateful day in Dublin in 1983 when England's Five Nations season ended in disaster with defeat by Ireland leaving them languishing at the bottom of the table. A group of English supporters were presented with a Wooden Spoon by their Irish opponents to mark this historic occasion. On returning home the proposal to play golf for the spoon attracted the interest of fellow English supporters. Over 100 people attended that golf day at Farnham and by the end of the evening £8450 had been raised. The funds were cashed in for a minibus purchased for the Park Special Needs School in Aylesbury. The charity was born..

Over time the number and variety of events increased as have the number of supporters and participants. Spoon now has patronage from the four rugby home unions and royal patronage from Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.

Today there are 44 regional committees including three national committees, Scotland, Wales and Ireland with more than 11,000 members. It has become a national charity but one working very much at a local level where all funds raised locally are spent locally.

Spoon's strength and purpose, however, have been to convert the funds derived from our fundraising activities to benefit socially, mentally or physically disadvantaged children and young people.

We support work that addresses a wide range of social problems as well as physical illnesses and disabilities ranging from cancer, cystic fibrosis and autism. Spoon has a positive impact on disability in all its forms and comforts the sick and needy whenever we have been able to do so.

We meet challenges with good humour and much enjoyment. We create events and activities that make demands on both our sporting and social prowess. We are driven by a collective ambition to see Wooden Spoon continue to grow in stature and thereby continue to have a positive impact on disadvantaged children and young people throughout the United Kingdom.

Spoon now consistently raises over £1.5m each year for distribution to local and national projects. With each passing year we want to continue to raise the bar higher and help more children with physical, mental and social challenges.