02 February 2011

Wooden Spoon, the children's charity of rugby, aims to improve the quality and prospect of life for children and young people who are disadvantaged physically, mentally or socially. It harnesses the spirit and values of rugby to give disadvantaged children and young people in the UK and Ireland a chance to achieve their full potential in life.

The charity raises funds through events organised by its volunteer regional committees, and these committees then decide on applications for help.

Grants are given to schools, children and young people's projects, hospitals, hospices and recreational groups, mostly in the range of £20,000 to £100,000, although grants have been made outside of those figures. There is a list of previous grants made on their website

Projects must normally be of a capital nature, with a reasonably long-term prospective lifetime (N.B. computers and electronic equipment are only rarely supported because they are susceptible to being overtaken by technological change). Only very rarely, does the fund support minibus or similar vehicle projects and also rarely provides support for revenue expenditure.

Full details and the application form can be found on the website here.