Its been a tough time...
... if you're an ATLAS supporter
Could you:
😫 Climb an ice wall in Africa?
😳 Subject yourself to a deluge of unrepeatable stories from Ian Robertson?
😰 Mash your tender body parts over 84 miles?
Our magnificent gang have done this and more. Photographic evidence to follow (not the tender body parts 😬)
See more by visiting our website or keep in touch through our Facebook page
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Brian Moore: "Is there anything you don't eat?"
Jason Leonard: "Small portions"
Rugby Champions get together
With thanks to Brian Moore for the above exchange.
In June ATLAS Rugby Champion Dick Harry was over from Australia and he and Jason met to discuss charity projects in the southern hemisphere.
The subject was serious, covering issues of health and deprivation in Australia and the Pacific Rim. Jason, Dick and other ATLAS Rugby Champions are meeting again during the summer tour to consider projects where we can make a real difference over there.
And on those portions...
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The Inaugural ATLAS Golf Day
In order to prevent an Oscar style thank you descending to the bottom of the page, I will only single out Neil Blewitt, pictured top right above, for his tireless work creating a wonderful event.
The irrepressible Ian Robertson, he of 5 Live rugby commentary fame, rounded off the event with an after dinner speech of such wickedness 😈 that not one anecdote is repeatable, and several were not photographable 📵
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The follow-up ⛳️
If you fancy joining the party next year, prices will be fixed at this year's rates: Four balls start at £1k, corporate sponsored packages from £1,500
Date still to be confirmed, late May 2017. Let us know if you'd like to be kept informed. Email here ✉️
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 ABOUT ATLAS
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ATLAS works through a network of international Rugby Champions who identify and champion grassroots projects in their own countries.
ATLAS funds UK and overseas development projects, providing pitches, coaches and teachers for the poorest communities in the world.
ATLAS Rugby Champions are celebrated international rugby players, including multiple world cup winners and “centurions” with over 100 international caps.
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Above:
Jason Leonard, Richard Harry, Philippe Sella and Thinus Delport. Four of the fifteen ATLAS Rugby Champions. For info see: ATLAS CHAMPS
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The ATLAS Foundation was founded by Jason Leonard and other rugby and corporate heavyweights to bring support to people around the world through the power of the game.
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"He was a champion in 2003 and he's still a champion today"
The media commentary of Jason's extraordinary 7 hour ride on a borrowed bike, with a borrowed helmet, in a borrowed pair of padded pants.
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Thankfully he looked the part, in bespoke kit donated through the kindness of Rhino Rugby.
The Tour of Cambridgeshire is a 'Grand Fondo' event which means all the roads were closed for the race. It also meant the fastest riders, including a couple of ATLAS riders, qualify for the World Championships in Perth (Australia ☀️, not Scotland 🌧)
All 30 riders made it to the end. Jason, being the team player he is, supported the back markers all the way, making sure that nobody was left behind.
Fancy it next year? Let us know. Here's an email link ✉️
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Great support from Rutland Cycling including a free bike fitting
service and loan bikes for several of our riders, including Jason.
Thank you Rutland Cycling.
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Rhino Rugby designed and supplied our fabulous cycling jerseys, in sizes from XS to 8XL.
Their generosity meant that more of ATLAS's entry fee went to fund our charitable work.
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The ATLAS Trek
A bittersweet victory
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From the bottom...
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... to the top... and all still smiling!
It was a bittersweet victory scaling 4,000 metres of Mount Toubkhal in the ATLAS Mountains.
In early May our Trek Challengers met, ate, limbered up and donned their Canterbury gifted trekking kit. The Moroccan weather was deceptively beautiful, masking the fact that the mountains were still impassible through snow and ice at some points.
Two days of solid climbing, punctuated by a mountain refuge sleep stop, brought the team to an ice wall 200m from the summit.
Having watched injured climbers being carried down past them, the expedition leaders and team doctor said 'enough'. Every one of the team would have carried on if possible, but experts were there for a reason, and their reason said No.
In so doing, the Trek team have raised just short of £100,000 for ATLAS and the final few fundraising pushes will take them over this massive summit in a few weeks time.
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ATLAS friends update
