Lesotho Rugby Academy partners with Harlequins Foundation

We are delighted to announce a new partnership between the Lesotho Rugby Academy and the Harlequins Foundation.

The Harlequins Foundation was set up in 2015 as an independent charity (1161838) with a goal of ‘Building Brighter Futures’. They have a vision of a world where the power of sport is used to drive positive change. They use the Harlequin network and brand to inspire, educate and equip individuals and communities at home and around the world to change their lives and fulfil their potential. Their focus is on inspirational, sustainable and transformative solutions that tackle inequality, poor health and the challenges facing the most vulnerable in society using education, skills development and entrepreneurship. 

Harlequins Foundation already supports a number of fantastic projects in the UK and overseas, including Switch – a women and girls project which aims to develop tomorrow’s female leaders, METTLE – a project that develops skills and knowledge to improve physical health and mental well-being for 9-12 year olds, Movember Foundation, and Kolkata-based children’s charity Future Hope.

The partnership comes on the back of Harlequins Foundation CEO Marc Leckie’s visit to Lesotho in January 2019. As part of the 3-year partnership, Harlequins will be providing core support to the Lesotho Rugby Academy as well as specifically funding two new coaching positions. Lesotho Rugby Academy will also join the Harlequins Foundation’s Rugby Young Leaders programme, which will connect Young Leaders involved in the sport around the world. In the future this will create opportunities for UK based Leaders to visit Lesotho and Basotho to visit the UK to share best practice in using rugby to change lives and inspire, enable and encourage young people to have a positive impact in their communities.

We’re delighted to be working with Harlequins Foundation, and together with our existing partners Dolen Cymru and Atlas Foundation we have an incredibly exciting opportunity to continue to grow the sport in Lesotho and change lives for the better.

Marc presenting a Harlequins training top to one of our new coaches