Huge response to disaster fund

But as cash and goods continue to pour in, a Devizes businessman is having to come to terms with the tragedy first hand.

Mike Cox, managing director of Discovery Records in Nursteed Road, has returned from Koh Phi Phi in Thailand this week where he was told his niece, Leanne, 23, had almost certainly perished.

She had been staying on the island when the tsunami struck on Boxing Day.

Mr Cox and Leanne's mother Jean were told all British survivors had been identified and she was not among them.

Backpackers Sara Mapp, 25, from Devizes, and Richard Smith, 22, from Calne, have safely returned from the same island but have told of their terrifying experience as the huge wave struck.

As the huge scale of the disaster unfolded people across Wiltshire responded by setting up fundraising events.

In response to an e-mail from Adrian Shaw, a tsunami survivor whose parents Pat and Alan live in Devizes, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in St Joseph's Place has organised a Cuddles and Bubbles Appeal.

Mr Shaw said his greatest need after the disaster was for a teddy bear to hug and a bar of soap to get himself clean. If you can spare a soft toy and a bar of soap to send to children affected by the catastrophe, drop them in to the church.

Mr Shaw was holidaying on the tiny island of Racha, an hour's boat ride from Phuket in Thailand, with his girlfriend, Natalie Dau, when the tsunami hit.

There were no fatalities on Racha but Mr Shaw and Miss Dau, who normally live in Singapore, did what they could to keep up the spirits of the survivors, especially the children.

Jo Beim and Judy Rose, who are neighbours in Avon Road, Devizes, will be going on a special kind of pub crawl on Friday night. They will call at all the hostelries in the town centre with Red Cross collecting boxes and ask everyone to give the price of a pint to the tsunami appeal.

Mrs Rose said: "We will have official collecting boxes and official badges. Please don't give to anyone who hasn't got these."

Mrs Beim is a swimming teacher and Mrs Rose works at Honeychurch Toys in Old Swan Yard.

They have approached all the pubs in the town centre and have received permission to collect in the Lamb, the Bear Hotel, the Pelican, the Dolphin, the Elm Tree, the White Bear, the British Lion, the Royal Oak, the Bell by the Green and the Black Swan.

They will not be calling at the Hare and Hounds as customers there have already raised more than £300 for the appeal.

They are hoping to have heard from all the other pubs in the town by Friday so even more people can be included in their collection.

Regulars at the Artichoke have already raised £95 after learning that another tsunami survivor was 22-year-old Christian Saunders, whose parents, John and Sue, run the pub in Bath Road, Devizes.

Mr Saunders did not want to speak about his experience.

He had been out there with friends from his former home in Radstock, Somerset.

His father John told the Gazette: "Christian's a bit like me, he doesn't like to talk about things.

"We heard the terrible news on Boxing Day but within half-an-hour Christian had rung us and told us he was fine."

The Artichoke collection will be added to the amount being raised by Christian Saunders and his friends at the Lamb Inn, near Radstock.

Among the many other local people raising funds for the appeal is Mike Wright, a tea buyer for Twinings, who lives in Worton, near Devizes.

Mr Wright, who regularly travels to the stricken area as part of his job, is organising a tea party in the village hall on Sunday from 3pm to 5pm. He has blended a special tea for the event and it will be on sale there.

The Wiltshire Mercy Appeal, set up by tile company boss Manolito Shando, is now being contacted by groups throughout the UK to help them get aid to Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Thailand, which bore the brunt of the tsunami created by an undersea earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale.

The appeal has the use of a hangar at the Science Museum at the former airfield at Wroughton, near Swindon, from where eight articulated lorries, three 7.5-tonne trucks and an assortment of vans has been ferrying the goods to Heathrow Airport and thence to the emergency area via Air Sri Lanka.

Alex Duffey, of Jackie's discount store in Devizes, who is joint chairman with Mr Shando, is still appealing for items such as tinned food, bottled water, sleeping bags, tents and blankets, but also plain net curtains.

Members of Chippenham band Iron the Cat were so horrified by images of the tsunami destruction in Asia they are attempting to raise £25,000 at two events. The first will be a live concert at the Olympiad for 1,000 people on February 5 and the second a charity golf day at Bowood on February 7.

How to help

Wiltshire Mercy Appeal: (07708) 415362 or (01380) 720409

Wiltshire Red Cross: (01380) 730131

Disasters and Emergency Committee (DEC) national number: 0870 60 60 900 email www.dec.org.uk