Welcome to our fundraising website

Its already been more than two years since the tsunami hit Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Malaysia, Burmah Bangladesh, Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya on that fateful morning of December 26th 2004.

The tsunami struck with no warning and was unforgiving in its ferocity shocking the world so much by its devastating effect that nations from all over the world quickly mobilised aid and help to the affected areas. Now two years on, the majority of that immediate aid has now ceased or is due to end shortly and whilst many projects continue onward there will be many that without funding proceed to collapse leaving the people that they support homeless and hungry.

The tsunami had more than an immediate effect. Whilst the loss of lives on an unimaginable scale wrecked families, there was also a more long lasting effect as the homes and livelihoods of the people were also wiped out. Many of the people living near the coast were fishermen who not only lost their families and homes but also lost their fishing boats, leaving them in despair.

Children who lost their parents turned to orphanages for help, these orphanages whether state run or funded charitable organisations as well as being run by trained staff are also staffed by locals who themselves have lost children or family members to the tsunami.

The tsunami was more than one day of carnage, its effects are long lasting and as such will need help and funding for many years to come until such a time that the infrastructure of the economy has been stabilised, families have been re-established and communities have been rebuilt.

To this end we are hoping that through this website we can raise enough funding to make a difference to the children of the orphanage in Khao Lak, Thailand.

Tsunami is a word of Japanese origin meaning "Harbour Wave"

Ships out at sea were little affected by the tsunami as the waves do not increase dramatically untill they reach the shallower waters near the coast where they can rise to heights as high as 30 metres (nearly 100ft) When the ocean is deep tsunamis can travel unnoticed on the surface at speeds up to 500 miles per hour (800 kilometers per hour), crossing the entire ocean in a day or less. Scientists are able to calculate arrival times of tsunamis in different parts of the world based on their knowledge of when the event that generated them occurred, water depths, and distances.

The overall death toll of the tsunami is estimated to be around 290,000 though this does not take into consideration people who were already displaced, people who were working illegally and people who were unknown to governing bodies as there is no census in many areas that were hit, so the figure is likely to be much higher.

As well as the loss of life and loss of fishing boats the coastal area where the tsunami hit has not yet recovered its fish stocks and damage done to its immediate environment and ecology.

The earthquake that generated the great Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Our target was reached on Thursday 25th October

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to anyone and everyone who helped us to achieve our goal!

Without your help, none of this would have been possible!

Steve Woodhouse