Three past and present chairs of East London Rugby Club joined a South Africa Rugby World Cup winner to help raise more than £7,000 in a charity bicycle ride on Saturday (17th August).

Nick Bracken OBE, President of the club in Memorial Park, West Ham, arranged the 85-mile trip in aid of The Atlas Foundation, which helps deprived children move towards a better future through the sport of rugby. The Foundation has already supported more than 50,000 children across five continents and raised more than £1 million.

East London RFC members taking part as either riders or support crew alongside club President Nick were current co-chair Nick Parrott, former chair and Honorary Life Vice-President Simon Crick; player Andy Davenport; Vixens ladies player Deepti Davenport; club vice-presidents Dave Armond, Simon Letchford, and Kim Bromley-Derry; and club sponsors Roy Strickland and Paul Richards. They wore specially designed ride shirts with the East London RFC crest on the arm.

The East London group joined Jannie du Plessis, the Springbok prop who won 70 caps for his country between 2007 and 2015 including a winner’s medal in Rugby World Cup 2007, and others from the Silver Hippos Rugby Football Club in a journey starting in Havering, cycling across parts of Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire towards their final stop in Mundford, Norfolk.

In 2018, Nick and the Silver Hippos visited one of the Atlas Foundation's projects in Cape Town, South Africa. During this visit, they met the Foundation's founder, former England rugby star Jason Leonard, as well as the England rugby team. Inspired by what they saw, Nick and the Silver Hippos have supported the Foundation ever since, collecting more than £90,000 in total. Jason Leonard recorded a special video message for the group thanking them for their efforts.

Nick, the RFU Council member for Essex and Immediate Past President of the county, said: “Having seen the great work The Atlas Foundation does in making young lives better, we are proud to be able to arrange this annual cycle ride to support them. I thank everyone who took part and those who donated generously in terms of money and in precious time to make it all happen safely.”