To pay tribute to the thousands of people who have lost their lives and to the emergency relief services in the region, the club will be observing a minute's silence before the match on Sunday (2nd January) afternoon against London Wasps*.

The charity collection for this Sunday is for Future Hope Calcutta. This has been a Quins related charity for many years now and our Community Development Officer Nick Hyde visited Future Hope this year to coach rugby to the children in the centre. We had no idea when allocating this charity to this match back in September that it would be prove to be such a sad coincidence.

The Future Hope organisation provides vital shelter, food, education and stability for orphaned children in India. There will be many, many more orphans needing Future Hope as a result of the disaster in the region. With your help at the match on Sunday, we can help an existing charity to cope with the increased demands on their resources. Thank you.

Quins also want to donate a minimum of £5,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee - Tsunami Earthquake Appeal through donations from sponsors and supporters.

We have spoken to the BPA today (Thursday) and they have very generously agreed to share the ground collection with the DEC Tsunami Earthquake Appeal at the game against Munster at Twickenham on Saturday 15th January 2005, kick-off 1.00pm. To raise as much as possible though, more collectors are needed. Anyone who can spare time to collect on this day should contact Suzi Gurney on 020 8780 6447 or by email at suzig@quins.co.uk.

Sponsorship Director Joe Troedson has also asked sponsors to help in any way they can and for the next two matches all hospitality guests will be asked to contribute either directly or through business card draws. Joe would like to thank Platinum Sponsor Norton Rose who have already donated £500.

Many thanks for your continued support of the charity work the club supports. In 2004 alone, over £30,000 has been raised for charity through Quins.

* NEC Harlequins Vs London Wasps - Sunday 2nd January 2005, kick-off 3.00pm. Please note that this match is sold out.