CHARITIES and fund-raisers have reported a huge outpouring of support as members of the public rally to help those caught up in the devastating Asian earthquake, reports Michaela Robinson-Tate.

Thousands of pounds have already been collected across South Lakeland, Furness and Eden, and churches and charities are still making massive efforts to harness the surge of goodwill.

As scenes of the devastation caused by the Boxing Day earthquake and subsequent tsunami dominated the media, charities, businesses, and members of the public quickly rallied to the cause.

"People are just queuing up to throw money at us it's really quite overwhelming," said Colin Barnes, the manager of the Oxfam shop in Ulverston.

By yesterday (Thursday) afternoon the shop had collected £3,500 in donations ranging from small gifts, to one contribution of £500, in what Mr Barnes described as a very moving show of solidarity.

Kendal Rotary Club was among the first organisations to respond, and is gearing up to send water purification "Aquaboxes" to the stricken areas.

Each box costs £250 including transport, and by Wednesday afternoon, more than £1,250 had been put in collecting tins at Kendal's Asda store.

"I was absolutely amazed," said president Alan Procter, who said the collection would continue with manned boxes in Kendal tomorrow (see below).

Ulverston Rotarians sent an immediate £500 donation and they will also be passing on donations from the audience at yesterday's Houghton Weavers concert at The Coronation Hall.

Buckets at Kendal's Marks & Spencer store, put out at the request of staff, yielded £3,060 on Tuesday and Wednesday, while Kendal's Oxfam store collected more than £1,200 in one day, and the Save the Children shop in Windermere received £131, also on one day.

The Church of England's Carlisle Diocese has launched an appeal in response to the plight of people in its partner diocese of Madras on the east coast of India.

The Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Rev Graham Dow, who said he had been deeply moved by the "terrible images" of the disaster, is asking each church in the diocese to hold a collection on two consecutive Sundays either January 2 and 9 or January 9 and 16.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Penrith, the Rt Rev James Newcome, and the Archdeacon of Westmorland and Furness, the Ven George Howe, and others, are hoping to continue with a long-planned visit to Madras next week.

Although they will not be able to take equipment, they would be happy to pass on any cash donations.

The Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Rev David James, has asked all churches across the diocese to hold a retiring collection this coming Sunday, while people in Settle have been giving "exceptionally generously" to the disaster appeal.

Kirkby Stephen town councillor Joan Johnston, the local representative of the Red Cross in Eden, organised a collection at the Co-op in Kirkby Stephen, and more are planned.

Members of the Manjushri Buddhist community at Ulverston's Conishead Priory are dedicating their evening prayers to tsunami victims this week.

Tim Robinson, of Komodo, in Kendal's Stramongate, who sells many goods from Indonesia, and whose wife, Indi, is from Java, hopes to raise thousands of pounds by donating ten per cent of sales of Indonesian products until January 29.