Anita, Alex and Annabel Nicholson Memorial Fund

Atlas Asia was set up to continue the work of The Nicholson Memorial Fund. The Nicholson Memorial Fund was set up by Ben Nicholson in memory of his wife Anita and their two children Alex and Annabel who tragically lost their lives in the Sri Lanka bombings on Easter Sunday 2019. Anita was a hugely popular member of The Atlas Foundation family. She set up and ran our first ever fundraising dinner with a Halloween themed event at the Singapore Cricket Club on 31st October 2018 with Jason Leonard there to promote Atlas’s work in the Far East, raising over £20,000. We remain eternally grateful to her and are all devastated to have lost her.

Take a moment to read through the latest updates:

1. Fundraising

We were delighted to host a Pre Lions Tour Roaring Lions Dinner in June 2025.  Supported by our panel of guest speakers, Jonathan Davies OBE, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Justin Harrison, and Morgan Turini shared their unique insights into international rugby and their own Lions experiences.

Their stories sparked meaningful conversations around sport, inclusion, and global development. We are grateful for everyone’s continued support and look forward to planning our next event for 2026!

2. Projects

The need to support vulnerable children in Asia continues and we remain committed to that goal. We are determined to keep expanding our reach and maintaining support to thousands of children, helping with education, health and wellbeing through our partner programmes in Asia.

Kampuchea Balopp – Cambodia

The KB project continues to be a vital pillar of support for disadvantaged children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It allows the children in the programme to access regular rugby sessions and to feel that sense of inclusion and acceptance all children deserve. 

The KB educators continue to make a positive impact and have a genuine desire to improve the lives of these very disadvantaged children. 

Like many projects, KB had found fund raising challenging in the post COVID economic environment.  We are delighted to be entering our second year in a three year funding arrangement and look forward to watching the project continue to thrive.

Khelo Rugby - India

Our relationship with Khelo Rugby remains strong and the Khelo Rugby initiatives continue to thrive following its amalgamation into the Future Hope organisation. 

Our funding supports general operations and two tiers of educational scholarships at high school and university levels.   We are currently entering the third year of a three-year funding agreement and this long-term support reflects both the longevity of our relationship with them and the consistency of the great work they do. 

The project continues to help young children in India to thrive and we are very pleased to be a part of this programme.  Atlas Foundation and Khelo Rugby share a drive and determination to support these children in their lives and education.   Not only are the children at Khelo rugby given the chance to express and enjoy themselves through the amazing rugby programme, but the scholarship programmes ensure that children are able to continue their education in circumstances where they otherwise would not.

This has evolved into a truly community led programme with the ethos of “nothing for us without us” bearing on everything they do.

We look to have a tangible and meaningful impact on individual children today, but we also aim to penetrate the stubborn barriers of inequality and deficits that linger in many communities over the long term.  Khelo Rugby is a model example of delivering on that long term goal. They have already driven high school graduation rates among their cohort from the local average of 18% to 80% in the communities they serve. 

Future Hope with Khelo Rugby have released a podcast “Hope within the mango trees”, this allows the listeners a tangible insight into the project and the excellent work they do and appreciate the impact they have on the children within their community. 

English Language Program

Our educational program with Khelo Rugby continues in Saraswatipur – in partnership with Khelo Rugby and Studycat (www.studycat.com ).  After losing access to accommodation to host the program last year in Kolkata the project has been successfully relocated to Sarawatipur.  The program provides pop up English classes for young children (ages 6-8).   

Following the success of the move we now have a dedicated full-time educator and one part time. With the funds raised in the “Little by Little” campaign in 2022 we are expanding this programme to offer more opportunities for local children to join and benefit from it.

Due to Studycat’s expertise they were able to analyse the participant data to identify likely literacy issues amongst the students last year.   We addressed this with the kind support of Studcat, by supplying hard copy materials for the children – using the funds raised in our Christmas book appeal.  We hope to repeat this success again in 2025!

The support we receive from Studycat is instrumental to the success of this programme and we would like to express our appreciation and thanks to the Studycat team https://studycat.com/.

WAH Foundation Language Lab | Kampong Chhang, Cambodia

Launched in February 2025, our Language Lab in Cambodia has grown rapidly to benefit 180 students in the first few months.   With the funds available we have been able to fund the retainer of a senior and a junior educator, giving us the scope to further expand the programme.

Studycat carried out a pre analysis assessment on the first group of children participating and has recently carried out a progress check to analyse the students’ progress.  The initial outcome shows significant impact.  Once the formal data is available we will share more information.

We are currently working with Kampuchea Balopp (KB), to help design a long-term rugby development plan to be integrated with the language lab.

Lanna Rugby Club | Chiang Mai, Thailand

Lanna Rugby Club continues to invest in the growth of community rugby supporting two NGOs who are linked to the club.   Lanna has plans to access RFU Level 1 coaching and referee training for those supporting the programme, in so doing they are building internal capacity for long-term sustainability.  While coaching costs are covered by an existing grant, Lanna hopes to secure new support to fund referee accreditation, ensuring safe and structured match play.

Lanna have recently hosted their first international rugby tournament with huge success!  With teams traveling from local regions around Asia.  With their current grant, Lanna support two NGOs linked to the club,.  While their current grant covers this support with the increase in attendance and the success of the programme, we may have to assess the need for additional funding to support the new children taking part.  We are currently entering our second year in a three-year funding programme.

Period Poverty

We are in talks with all our projects to see how this can be penetrated and promoted in our existing projects in a culturally appropriate way.  Supporting girls and the challenges they face every month.

As always, we thank all our donors and supporters without who this work would not be possible.