During the 2018 England rugby tour to South Africa, The Silver Hippos accompanied Jason Leonard and some of the England Rugby team on a visit to an Atlas Foundation project in Cape Town. Jason established the Atlas Foundation to "raise kids out of disadvantage through the power of rugby". The Hippos were very admiring of this work and set up this Fund to continue to support the work we saw there, and in other places around the world. The project also dovetails with the feeding programmes established by the South African Rugby Legends Association (SARLA). We have raised over £60K but want to do more.

On our last visit to South Africa, in September 2022 we joined with SARLA to visit the Vuka rugby project, sponsored by the Silver Hippo Atlas fund at False Bay rugby club in Cape Town. We then went to a feeding project at a school in the Mithcells Plain area of the Cape. There we witnessed first hand, the scale of the problem of poverty and the daily challenges facing children in some parts of South Africa. Our visit reinforced the importance of what we have done so far and has encouraged us to do even more.

The £60K raised so far has mostly come from the sponsorship of our annual cycle ride from London to Norfolk or taking part in the Tour of Cambridge cycle event.

We will again be riding the 140km from London to Norfolk on the 5th August 2023 and a number of Hippo’s will also ride the Tour of Cambridge in June.

Please help us provide much needed food and life chances to these children living in extremely difficult circumstances.

Nick Bracken