A WOMAN from Worcester whose Sri Lankan family had all their possessions destroyed by the Asian tsunami has sparked a church aid appeal.

Methodist congregations in Worcester want to send a lorry packed with clothes, household goods and medical provisions to rebuild lives on the country's east coast.

Antoinette Sanmuganathan is backing the Evening News wishband appeal, but also urged people to help the affected areas, where she has five sets of aunts, uncles and cousins.

She said: "As much funding that can be sought should be because we can't imagine the loss."

One of her uncles enjoyed a "miraculous" survival by escaping through an outside toilet's ventilation shaft and grasping on to a tree for two days - he was the only survivor of 3,000 people from his village.

"We thought he was definitely dead," said Mrs Sanmuganathan, who was raised in Colombo and came to Britain with her husband, a doctor at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

"That was just a miracle because he lived quite close to the beach. He loved living there and our first thought was he wouldn't be alive.

"People are unable to go back to their homes because there is nothing left and they have lost so many members of their family.

"They are all desperate because they need to build everything up again.

''Most of them have nothing to fall back on and they are very poor so any little help could be a big help for them."

The Rev David Meachem, the appeal co-ordinator, said volunteers are required to help load the truck and that £500 needs to be raised for transportation.

"Whether it takes us two weeks, three weeks or more, we'll just keep going until we have a lorry load," he said.

Items needed include: summer clothing; bedding; towels; toothbrushes; plasters; brooms; kitchen utensils; school bags; disinfectant; bandages; small furniture; cleaning materials; soap; and toys.

Labelled bin bags can be donated at Bennett's Manor Farm, Lower Wick, Worcester, behind the Manor Farm pub, from Monday to Saturday between 2pm and 5pm.