Fareham man changes his middle name to Spoons after his Wetherspoons The Game creation reaches landmark

Chris Illman, 43, started Wetherspoons The Game!! on Facebook in 2018 with a handful of others and now it has 700,000 members. It involves members posting their location and table number on the page, and strangers order food and drinks to the table using the pub's mobile app.

Chris, or to give him his now full name, Chris Spoons Illman, changed his name by deed poll on February 2, 2025. He said: "My name changed from the moment I signed the paperwork, the rest is just formality and making the paperwork official.”

While the game has built a community of people that buy each other food and drink across the country, Chris is proud of the work he does through the game for homeless people.

He has hosted drives across the country, including Portsmouth, setting up in Wetherspoons and asking for people to order food which is then distributed through local homeless charities.

Chris said: "The group is based around Wetherspoons and the only time I go there is to feed the homeless. Each meal has a burger, chips, and a sealed soft drink. Once all the food is brought out in takeaway boxes, local charities collect it and hand it to the local homeless community.

"After the burgers, we ask for snacks like crisps, nuts, and biscuits, and we're sent between 1000 and 5000 snacks each time."

What makes the game possible is that the Wetherspoons app allows you to order from your phone from anywhere and send it to any restaurant with a table number.

To play the usual game, members will send a photo and accompanying story, along with location details, to the Facebook group and people buy them drinks if they are entertained or moved. People who benefit usually go on to help others later. Chris got the idea one night when he was out with a group of friends.

When the group reached 10,000 members, in 2020, Chris got a Wetherspoon tattoo of a weather symbol and a wooden spoon underneath on his upper arm. Now he has changed his middle name to Spoons, the nickname for the popular chain of pub/restaurants.

His partner, Lindsey, 41, isn't too keen on the new name but does see the funny side of it. There is no turning back now with the forms all filled in and sent away for processing.

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