Spoon is teaming up to help St Petroc's, a registered charity that helps the single homeless men of Cornwall aged between 17-25 who, more often than not, fall outside the responsibility of statutory authorities. Very often young people are sleeping rough and may have a range of difficulties, including drug or alcohol dependency, mental ill health, relationship problems or an offending lifestyle, which contribute to their homelessness and social exclusion. The services offered by St Petroc's are in no way a solution to the problems faced on a day by day basis by homeless people living on the streets of Cornwall. Instead they give much needed breathing space to some of the most vulnerable people in Cornwall. They give hope and much needed support to ensure that every opportunity is given to everyone who wishes to take that first step back into the community.

The SCR project will seek to work with 36 young men throughout the programme. Spoon is providing qualified Rugby coaches to help the project with a series of team building activities and take all the residents of the dispersed houses to a central location to watch a quality game of rugby. These will address the issue of isolation, which can be felt by homeless people. Pre match there will be an introduction to the programme to inspire the participants to lead a healthier and more physically active lifestyle. Following this a series of physical activity days will be arranged at both the individual houses and then combined events to create teams to represent each house in an appropriately fun atmosphere.

The medium of non contact Tag Rugby will be used initially along with some other physical activities. This will culminate in a 'Sports Day' of various activities to suit the abilities and progress that the participants have made. In addition clubs who are local to the individual houses will be contacted to arrange the opportunity for the participants to access the benefits of their local rugby club either as players or member volunteers. This is yet another project where Wooden Spoon seeks to bring the benefits of Rugby to a wider audience.

Corinna Mitchell who manages the houses explains how projects such as Spoon's Community Rugby project can make a difference : "When clients take up residency in our houses, within six months we aim to support them in finding more independent and stable accommodation with the relevant life skills, training and/or employment and with on-going support if necessary. There are a large number of residents that lack confidence and self esteem, a number who suffer depression. Sport and leisure activities provide a platform from which to build confidence and self esteem as well as promote general well being. I also believe that it is beneficial to get each house out on confidence and team building days and I have been looking to find ways in which to do this. On the very few occasions I have managed it, the positive results have been inspiring and have promoted a harmonious household and given people incentive and confidence to try new things - either new hobbies or training/employment opportunities. It certainly brings people closer together which creates a nurturing and supportive environment from which to grow".