Last Friday, Jo, Roger and Hannah Beim and I visited 13 of Devizes' town centre pubs and collected money for the Disaster Emergency Committee Appeal for victims of the Asian tsunami.

We were overwhelmed by everyone's generosity, and would like to thank all who gave. In particular, to the anonymous donor who handed over a large brandy bottle of coppers which amounted to £32.78, to the regulars at The Lamb who had already collected over £80 before we even got there, and to the landlord of the White Bear who gave us the contents of his charity bottle which amounted to £197.49. The grand total by the end of the evening was just over £700, making it more than worth the effort.

The money is really needed right now, but financial support will continue to be vital for some time. One way of providing such support could be through debt relief, which would make an enormous difference for many of these countries in their efforts to recover from this disaster.

Oxfam, and other charities, have details about this on their websites, and I would urge all who have given so generously to contact them to find out more, and add your support to this project.

J Rose

Devizes