By Wee Jim
December 21 2010

Here’s a great charitable idea for a Quins fan to start off the New Year just right.  You may remember that, earlier this year, Quinssa organised a signed Quins shirt donation to a Northampton Saints fan, “Wee Jim”, for his sponsored charity walk for British Heart Foundation.  Well now he’s auctioning off the shirt for the same great cause.  Read more about it in the interview below:

Rob: So, James – “Saints With Heart 9” – what was it all about?

James: Basically, a few years back (this is the 9th walk – you do the maths Rob, you’re the accountant!) a group of Saints fans got together on realising that they shared something unfortunate in common – heart problems. A sponsored walk to raise awareness of, and money for, the work of the British Heart Foundation swiftly followed. It now happens every year – before a Saints home game so we walkers have an incentive, as well as a bar, to aim for – and with this year’s walk we have taken the total raised for BHF to over £100,000 so far.

How far is the walk?

Well, because the walkers range in age and health, there are three walks, all ending up at Franklins Gardens, ranging from 3 miles to 17 miles, along the Grand union Canal from various points to the rugby ground.

Dare I ask which you went for?

17 miles of course! This year it was a fine autumn day too – a bit of mist at the start and a lovely sun rise to keep us going over the early stages. There’s a real mix of people too some from other clubs all united by the common interest of rugby. A bit of rugby chat helps distract you from aching joints in the last few miles. You’ll be pleased to know that the Quins shirt kept neck and neck with a Tigers shirt all the way and we were one of the first to reach Franklins Gardens. It’s not a race of course but the lure of Guinness is quite strong!

And why the approach to Quins and Quins fans?

There’s so many examples of rugby being one big community, especially when “doing good things”. You only have to look at the Matt Hampson situation to see that. SWH is another such example. Fans of other clubs happily put team-rivalry to one side for a good cause. Quins have got a great reputation for this and have always been generous to a good cause. And apart from that, they’re one of my favourite clubs – after Saints of course! Each of the SWH walkers is persuaded to focus fundraising on one other club and its fans and for me, Quins were the obvious choice. I’ve chosen Quins a number of times now and have built up a great rapport with some of the fans and received tremendous support. It really does make a difference on the walk too. I’m looking forward to meeting friends old and new on New Year’s Day at Franklins Gardens.

What have Quins done for SWH?

Through the good offices of Quinssa, the club very kindly donated a squad-signed shirt to me for the walk. I wore the shirt for the full 17 miles and even kept it on for the Saints match which immediately followed – against Exeter. I got some odd looks from some in the crowd that day and even from some of the Saints players as I loitered around the pitch-edge before kick-off (it was only a couple of weeks earlier that the Saints had seen the Quins shirt in opposition at The Stoop).


So what now for the shirt?

Aha, I wondered how long we’d take to get to it! Like in previous years, I want to auction the shirt off to raise more money for the British Heart foundation. What an excellent last minute Christmas present for a Quins fan. Anyone who wants the chance to own this collectable shirt simply needs to email me (Jibruce96@googlemail.com) or send me a private message (I’m “WeeJim”) via the SportsNetwork message boards with their highest bid by midnight on 30th December. The winning bidder can then, if they like, collect the shirt from me at the Saints v Quins game on New Year’s Day! What an excellent game to start the New Year and who knows – it might become a lucky shirt if the result goes Quins way. ( Don’t tell Saints I said that!) Look out for details on the Comeallwithin message board for more details.