Rugby Star launches contact room at Home-Start charity

World famous rugby star Chris Latham visited Sandwell to see how a charity has converted cash into vital support for local families being torn apart by domestic violence, drugs, and other crisis situations.

Chris, a rugby World Cup winner with Australia who now plays for Worcester Warriors, officially opened the new Wooden Spoon Family Contact Room at Home-Start’s centre at High Street, West Bromwich.
The new suite was made possible thanks to a donation of £20,000 from the West Midlands regional committee of national rugby union charity Wooden Spoon. The centre has undergone an extensive renovation programme to provide a welcoming environment for local families.

Chris said: “It is great to come to West Bromwich to see the excellent work being done here by Wooden Spoon and Home-Start. The key thing about this project is that it helps disadvantaged children by helping to reunite the family unit. Anyone who has got children realises the importance of that family unit and the stability that it brings. The family facilities here are excellent. The thought of a lonely child having to meet their parent at a cafe or fast food restaurant, rather than somewhere welcoming like this, is not a nice one. For a child to have memories like that is not great which is why this support room is a fantastic concept.” 

Guests at the event were welcomed by Spoon’s regional chairman Phil Pemble. Phil, from Sutton Coldfield, is PR manager at Birmingham-based Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG). PPDG, which has also been a major supporter of Wooden Spoon for many years, has donated £400 towards the project.

Phil said: “It was fantastic to have someone of the stature of Chris, regarded as one of the greatest fullbacks of all time, to officially launch the Wooden Spoon Family Contact Centre at Home-Start. Wooden Spoon is dedicated to helping disadvantaged and disabled children and we are delighted to be able to provide support for this very important facility at Home-Start.”

Phil has devoted many years to helping disabled and disadvantaged people and has raised more than £200,000 for Wooden Spoon. He has championed Payroll Giving at PPDG where more than two-thirds of employees donate to charity each.

Fundraising and development manager Jackie Cummins Dougan said: “We were delighted to receive £20,000 funding towards the overall cost of our family contact room. Without the support of Wooden Spoon and other trusts, foundations and businesses we would not have been able to undertake such a large project at our new base.”