It is true to say many childen around the world and in the UK, do not have the safety and support network of a family or friends to help them through the journey of life.

Giving my time to help raise money for the Atlas Foundation, through the power of rugby and community to see the work that they do first hand, really does make a real difference to young lives.

However none of it can be done without support from my own personal family, friends and colleagues. Additionally, my employers via the LSEG Foundation will match the first £2,000 raised on this page, effectively double every £1 donated, so please read on and donate if you can.

So, in just under 4 weeks time, I am at it again, with an intrepid band of trekkers, including my good friends John Clougherty, Michael Whitfield and his wife Michelle, and Jason Leonard OBE, we are indeed going back to Africa.

Initially in the north of South Africa, we will visit Atlas's GWRI women’s project, and see how The Atlas Foundation is empowering the young women of GWRI, nearly all of whom have had harrowing childhoods. Then we will trek into Kruger National Park, where we will be walking in the bush with the Big 5 all around us, and after a night in the bush we will set off with a couple of experienced rangers to dehorn rhinos - yes you read that right - by dehorning these magnificent beasts it stops them being poached for their horns. Poaching really means ripping off their horns and leaving them to die in pain. The horn is just like a toe nail or hair, and it is painless to remove it surgically so we are incredibly excited to be able to help do this ourselves.

From Kruger, we fly south to Cape Town, where we will see the good work carried out on the Atlas Digibus, currently travelling between Cape Town and Langa every day and delivering 50,000 lessons a year in one of the largest townships in South Africa. We will also be visiting the Masiphumelele and Ocean View High Schools. There we will see the new Atlas media centres, and learn how the Atlas rugby programme is helping the boys and girls from these incredibly deprived communities. The work that Atlas is doing here is vital in helping overcome the problems of drugs, violence and gang culture that are rampant locally. A walk through Masi, with our experienced local coaches, who act as role models and mentors for the children, will allow us to see firsthand the real impact that Atlas has on the ground.

I simply can’t wait, and I hope you will consider helping us all in our fund-raising goal where every penny will go towards helping these amazing kids, giving them a chance to thrive through the power of Atlas and rugby.

Thank you for reading this and helping these unbelievable kids.