The Premiership match between Harlequins and the Leicester Tigers this Saturday 23rd April is being played in honour of former Harlequins and Richmond player, Seb Adeniran-Olule.

Here at Richmond, we remember Seb as a member of our First XV that were promoted into the RFU Championship in 2015/16. In fact, the last match that Seb ever played before he passed away was for Richmond against Hartpury University, at which our promotion was secured.

During the 20 years of his life, Seb played the game he loved not only for our club, on loan from Harlequins, but also for his two schools, Whitgift School and Wellington College, his county, his region and his country.

At Richmond, before the pandemic struck, we’ve organised annual bike rides to a number of European cities – Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, to raise money for the charitable foundation established in Seb’s name. Our own Jen Gadsby Peet is a trustee of the charity and ensures there is a continuing strong link with our club.

Alongside Saturday’s match between Quins and the Tigers, Seb’s Foundation is holding a silent auction with some fabulous prizes:

LOT 1: Marcus Smith’s matchday shirt, signed by the England fly-half himself

LOT 2: A Quins away shirt, signed by Alex Dombrandt

LOT 3: A pair of Stephan Lewies’ signed and dedicated boots (size 13)

LOT 4: – An England shirt, signed by Ellis Genge, who played alongside Seb for England U20's

LOT 5: Ellis Genge’s Tigers match-day playing shirt, signed by Saturday’s squad on the front and by Ellis on the back

LOT 6: A two-night stay in a suite at the stunning 4* Easthampstead Park Hotel, in Berkshire, with half board included

LOT 7: An England white polo shirt, signed by Ellis Genge

Send your bids for these lots (clearly stating which one you’re bidding for) to: sebsfoundation@gmail.com. The auction will close at midnight on Thursday 28th April and the winning bidders will be notified within 48 hours of the auction’s close.

If you’d like to show your support for the work of Seb’s Foundation in another way, by making a donation, click here to make a donation.

Seb’s Foundation works to foster hope and inclusion, by using the power and positivity of sport and education to remove barriers and enable young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds to fulfil their ambitions and flourish. By providing scholarships, rugby training programmes and workshops to develop mental health and self-esteem for young people who wouldn’t usually have access to them, Seb’s Foundation supports them to develop and thrive. The first Seb Scholar to benefit from this work is Harlequins’ player, Cassius Cleaves, who showed his amazing skills on the pitch in his debut match in the Premiership Rugby Cup match between Harlequins and Sale Sharks on 29th March this year.

One in three children in the UK are living in poverty, which means that in a class of 30 children, 10 will regularly be experiencing hunger. And child poverty is rising. Children living in poverty have to fight harder for their futures. It has serious implications for their academic attainment, their social networks and their mental health. The work of Seb’s Foundation is rooted in investing in those futures, providing opportunities, opening new horizons and nurturing the aspirations of some of the 4.3 million children that the UK government estimates live in poverty in the UK today.

Rugby is a sport that is currently closed to the majority of young people in the UK. Seb’s Foundation believes that rugby should be made more accessible and can be a means to building social networks, developing positive values and, above all, improving life chances. The sporting and educational prospects of our children can be transformed by leveraging the advantages of this wonderful sport. The benefits of increasing inclusion for the sport of rugby itself also cannot be underestimated. There are huge opportunities to expand the pool of talent from which players are drawn, as well as the sport’s fan base.

To read more about Seb’s Foundation, and find out how you can donate to enable it to help more young people, visit: www.sebsfoundation.org and follow the Foundation on twitter @sebsfoundation.

Thank you so much for your support!