Durham Regional Committee

Honorary President: Rob Andrew MBE 
Regional Chairman: Mike Stephenson 0191 384 2707 stephensonmls@aol.com

Events:

News:

HRH The Princess Royal opens new Sports Academy

HRH The Princess Royal visited the Percy Hedley Senior School in Newcastle to officially open the new Wooden Spoon Sports Academy on Tuesday 11th October.

Dignitaries and senior staff from Percy Hedley greeted the Princess. In attendance were Spoon CEO, Geoff Morris and Roger Cooke, Treasurer of Wooden Spoon. This Sports Academy was a Wooden Spoon National project within the Northumberland region. Spoon committed the first £200,000 towards the cost of this specially fitted sports centre for the physically disabled.

The Princess chatted to students and staff as she toured the new facilities. She watched the students taking part in Boccia, New Age Kurling, Powerchair Football and Rugby in the fantastic new sports hall and viewed a fitness training session in the new Fitness Suite. She also unveiled the official plaque and made an excellent speech where she praised Percy Hedley for its well-earned reputation for pushing back the boundaries in disabled sport and Wooden Spoon for its continued support to exceptional projects.

A strong Wooden Spoon contingent lead by Mike Stephenson and Danny Hodgson, both regional chairmen, joined 150 of Percy Hedley’s supporters, funders and parents at the event.

Everyone had the opportunity to see the new facilities at first hand and to experience much of the equipment in the new sports academy.