Today, we are marking Global Accessibility Awareness Day as Atlas Ambassador Richard Austin visited our Atlas South Africa Villager FC Deaf Rugby Programme.
An Atlas Commitment to Accessibility and Inclusion
Thursday, 21 May 2026, marks the 15th Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), a global initiative encouraging people to think, talk, and learn about digital access and inclusion for the more than one billion people worldwide living with disabilities and impairments.
At The Atlas Foundation, inclusion remains one of our three core pillars and is embedded across every project we support. We believe rugby has the power to create opportunities, foster belonging, and break down barriers. With this assertion, we help build accessible support systems where children can grow in confidence, connect with others, and feel empowered to thrive.
Sport connects communities in a way like nothing else, and rugby connects communities in South Africa like no other sport.
Accessibility Through Rugby and Sign Language
Our Atlas South Africa Villager FC Deaf Rugby Programme is driving meaningful change by improving accessibility, inclusion, and opportunity for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
Across South Africa, many deaf and hard-of-hearing young people face significant barriers to communication, participation, and social inclusion. Limited access to resources, a lack of widespread understanding of sign language, and social isolation can often leave children feeling disconnected and excluded.
Yet rugby has a unique ability to unite communities, transform lives, and create pathways for young people to succeed. Through the programme, 50 deaf girls and boys are provided with a safe, inclusive, year-round rugby environment where they can develop confidence, build friendships, and simply enjoy being children, without limitations.
A Special Visit
Atlas Ambassador Richard Austin recently visited the programme to witness its impact firsthand, alongside Atlas South Africa Trustee Percy Montgomery, UK Consul General Colin Leeman, and England Deaf Rugby player Lily Phillips.
Richard’s own journey reflects the spirit of the programme. At the age of 11, he was told that his asthma and deafness would prevent him from participating in sport. Rather than accepting limitations, Richard challenged expectations and went on to play rugby at school, club, county, and international level.
Today, he is a passionate advocate, demonstrating that being deaf or hard of hearing should never define what someone can achieve.
It’s about wanting to and believing and achieving. Everyone, if they want to believe, they can achieve.
The visit highlighted the powerful impact of creating environments where children can participate on equal terms. Watching young people communicate, connect, and play rugby freely demonstrated the transformative role accessibility and inclusion can have in shaping futures.
Guests spoke about the visible benefits they witnessed, not only improved confidence and teamwork, but also the sense of belonging and opportunity being created for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
By creating safe spaces where young people are free from limitations, programmes like Villager FC are helping children build skills and self-belief that extend far beyond the rugby field.
This meaningful project is having a profound impact on the children’s lives. It is special to witness how children who are often separated by society because of their hearing differences are instead coming together, learning from one another, and teaching each other so much.
