For everybody involved in The Atlas Foundation’s work, from our trustees to our partners, our rugby champions, ambassadors, and the volunteers who contribute to events, workshops, clinics, and outreach schemes, there is one overarching ambition we share: to make the world a better place for the most disadvantaged children.
This philosophy is also what draws supporters, donors, and fundraisers to our cause. Many are looking for positive ways to effect genuine change in places where children are exposed to profound hardships and have no voice or means of accessing desperately needed help.
Children’s charitable work, of course, spans a broad scope, but for those considering supporting or partnering with a registered charity that has already achieved remarkable outcomes, we’ve shared a snippet of insight into what we do, some of the diverse ways you can get involved, and how we make the most of every donation.
Understanding the Critical Need for Practical and Sustainable Help for Deprived Children at Home and Overseas
The Atlas Foundation is a global children’s charity, which means we support children in communities everywhere we can make a marked impact, from local projects in the UK and Ireland to those managed by our Atlas Abroad teams.
Atlas Abroad projects are ongoing in South America, the UK, Asia, South Africa, and the USA, alongside multiple other initiatives and schemes in other locations created in partnership with local organisations.
How do we choose where and how to offer our support? Over the last ten years, we have established trusted relationships with our partners, with whom we work closely. The Foundation analyses the real-world benefits of their programmes to ensure we commit to long-term funding where we can see tangible, positive change developing over time.
As new communities, locations and projects arise that align with our missions, values and goals, we explore those opportunities to determine where we can help, assisting financially and through our networks to link projects and people across the Atlas community.
Our Rugby Champions also play an important part, raising awareness, engaging with fundraising events and experiences, nominating projects they are passionate about, and inspiring others to join us in effecting lasting change.
Champions come from throughout the world of professional rugby and include international players past and present, coaches, captains, journalists, and those who have been instrumental in creating opportunities, driving equality and standards, and promoting inclusion in grassroots and wheelchair rugby.
From pinpointing communities and townships that need significant support to acting as spokespeople, hosting events, and visiting projects in person, our Champions are part of the network we have built over the last decade.
How Supporting Children in Underprivileged Communities Paves the Way for a Better Future
Rather than providing nominal support or one-off contributions, we work to understand where and how to best allocate our resources and partner with community leaders, charities, schools, medical care providers and grassroots sports teams, who have firsthand knowledge of the hardships, challenges, obstacles and disparities children in their specific area face.
This is fundamental because sustainable, life-changing transformations don’t happen overnight, and they cannot be prescribed from a generic model.
We all recognise that sticking plaster efforts, however well-meaning, cannot affect authentic and lasting change. This applies particularly when addressing embedded challenges, from poverty to conflict trauma, hunger, war, discrimination and a lack of access to safe water or school places.
Instead, we create programmes designed to empower children to achieve and aspire, supported by education, positive role models, nutrition and healthcare, helping them to see how they can create a better life for themselves and future generations.
To move closer to our big-picture aims, we invest in long-term measures that will level the playing field, ensure children are protected and nurtured, and plug gaps in the provision of healthcare, food, and safeguarding so that those very children can decide what the future will look like as they grow to achieve their full potential.
What The Atlas Foundation Can Achieve With Your Contributions and Support
The results speak for themselves. While we always reiterate that none of this would be feasible without donations and support, our tirelessly dedicated teams, and the efforts of our 47 local partners, we remain incredibly proud to have made the following impacts in just 10 years:
- Supporting 219,203 children around the world, delivering projects in 21 countries.
- Hitting a 95% success rate of supported children graduating their year at school.
- Entering into partnerships where 88% supply clean water and nutritious food.
- Facilitating the delivery of extra-curricular skills programmes with 65% of partners.
In 2024 alone, 4,458 children have re-enrolled in school, each now with a brighter future and access to quality education. An additional 1,479 coaches and young leaders have completed training programmes to give young people the tools to pass on their experiences to future generations.
This demonstrates the real-world effect we are trying to achieve when we talk about sustainable and enduring change—breaking cycles of deprivation and hardship, giving the vulnerable children we support the ability to take control of their own futures, and instilling a sense of aspiration and purpose within entire communities.
How to Support The Atlas Foundation’s Work as an International Children’s Charity
There are numerous ways to support our work, regardless of whether you are in a position to make a financial donation and whether you’d love to help brighten the future for underprivileged children here in the UK or want to be a part of a positive movement for communities in some of the most deprived overseas areas.
Fundraising is, of course, a big part of the way we generate income, but we focus on a whole range of events, activities and schemes:
- School partnerships help us to engage with schools that often host fundraising initiatives and events and give their own students access to real-life learning and the life skills needed to, for example, organise a bake sale or undertake a sponsored challenge.
- Our Atlas Foundation E-Cards allow supporters to purchase a gift card to celebrate a special occasion, with 100% of the profits going directly into our life-saving work.
- Corporate partnerships enable companies and businesses whose values align with ours to demonstrate their support, often with match funding as a workforce engagement and team effort exercise to use their standing to create a positive legacy.
- Volunteering opportunities, such as lending a hand to advertise our projects and fundraising opportunities, or looking at ways local rugby clubs you might play or coach for can be inspired to create their own outreach and accessibility programmes for children.
- Events, from prize draws to hiking challenges and the inspiring Atlas Trek 2025, allow those looking to challenge themselves or take on an event to raise valued funds to bolster their motivation.
We greatly benefit from fundraising events of every size. We use our love of sport, teamwork and ambition to support everything from smaller events and sports days to community and workplace activities, bringing people and families together while raising much-needed funds for a hugely important cause.
However you can or choose to support us, every contribution makes an impact and ensures that we are all actively investing in the welfare, health, and education of children—an aspiration we can all share, and one we know will pay dividends in the future.
