Summer 2019 Fundraising Dinner
We are delighted to confirm our 2019 summer fundraising dinner will take place on 26 June 2019 at the beautiful Brunswick House. This year we again have some very special guests, including England’s most capped player, world cup winner, and founder of our sponsor the Atlas Foundation, Jason Leonard OBE; ex-South Africa international and Saracens player Alistair Hargreaves; recently retired BBC commentary legend and ex-Scotland international Ian ‘Robbo’ Robertson; and our very own Litsitso Motseremeli, ex-Lesotho international and the Lesotho Rugby Academy country director.
We still have some tickets left, but hurry as these are running out fast!
All you need to do is email dan.c.aylward@gmail.com to reserve spaces. There is a suggested donation on the night of £80.
LESOTHO RUGBY ACADEMY DINNER
Wednesday, 26 June 2019
Drinks reception at 6.30pm, three course dinner served at 7.30pm
Brunswick House, 30 Wandsworth Rd, Vauxhall, London SW8 2LG
Please bid generously at our auction on the night
Dress code: smart
Taxis at 10.30pm
The venue
Brunswick House is a large Georgian mansion in Vauxhall. In the eighteenth-century Brunswick House (originally Belmont House) was a grand house that stood in five and half acres of parkland and was originally built with a coach house, offices, stables and three acres of gardens that reached down to its own a timber dock on the Thames. Today it is a quirky party venue famed for its excellent food, and filled with antiques and curiosities.
About the Lesotho Rugby Academy
The Lesotho Rugby Academy tackles social problems in Lesotho through a 10 week rugby programme, delivered to young boys and girls in the poorest and most vulnerable areas across the country. In 2019, we launched the Atlas All Schools - Lesotho programme, which will work with selected high-schools throughout the year.
Through the fun, teamwork and discipline of rugby, children are taught important life skills, including gender equality, good nutrition, how to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS, and how to live a healthy and responsible lifestyle.
The programme is delivered by Dolen Cymru: The Wales Lesotho Link, in partnership with the Atlas Foundation and Harlequins Foundation.
The aims of the charity are simple:
1) To support and educate vulnerable children and adolescents through open group sessions;
2) To share our enthusiasm for a sport that provides inspiration, focus and a support network, in a country with few opportunities for young people.
3) To produce a top quality future generation of Lesotho rugby players, and to truly place Lesotho rugby on the southern African map.
Our goal for the evening: getting Coach Roy some new wheels
This year we will be looking to raise £5,000 for a new and appropriate vehicle for Roy. Unfortunately Roy’s old saloon car was no match for the rocky tracks he has to drive down to reach schools he is visiting. This came to our attention during February’s visit, as our rental car dutifully followed Roy, passengers grimacing every time we heard the bottom scrape along a raised boulder.
To help our guests picture what driving along these donkey tracks in an old saloon car is like, I asked Roy if he could take a video of his arrival at one of our schools. Unfortunately, this was not possible, and all I got back was the picture below.
