I've always thought of myself as being one of the lucky ones, being born in one of the safest countries to be in. Chances of being killed are fairly slim. Not just by fellow man - carrying guns and knifes is outlawed - but by nature. There are no volcanoes or earthquakes. No tornadoes or hurricanes. No deadly animals or risk of disease. Spiders aren't poisonous and I've never even seen a snake outside of a zoo. Thus it's hard to even begin to imagine what it must be like right now in Asia.

Helpless as I am to do anything about it, I've made my gesture by donating as much as I can afford to Oxfam. I will try and donate a similar amount each month throughout 2005. It's too easy to forget what has happened when things lose airtime on the news and this is obviously going to take a long time to sort out.

Just under two years ago I spent a couple of weeks in Sri Lanka. In that time I not only fell in love with the place, but the people too. It's hard to imagine people being more friendly and hospitable that the Sri Lankans. It's also hard to imagine what the places I visited must look like now they've been all but torn apart.

Bringing the whole thing even closer to home was the fact that one of my best friends was on Phuket beach on Boxing Day as it all happened. It wasn't until Wednesday that I finally heard he was alive and well.

Hope you all have a good new year. Spare a thought and, if you can, some cash for those in need, remembering how lucky we are not to need it as much as they do.