MONEY raised by a Holme Valley couple is helping people in a poverty-stricken and disaster-hit part of the world.

Paul and Lynn Stothart, of New Mill, have forged strong links in Sri Lanka and want to do all they can to help the island, which was already ravaged by poverty before the tsunami hit on Boxing Day, 2004.

They raise money in the Huddersfield area and elsewhere to help specific projects in Sri Lanka.

They then go out and oversee the schemes, to make sure they are completed properly, before paying for the work and returning with photos of it.

The couple went out with £4,000 on their latest trip - including a large sum of money given by a Southport school.

The money has provided fishermen with a rescue boat, desks and chairs for a school and swings and see-saws at an infant school.

Paul and Lynn are also helping a 19-year-old girl who is deemed to be at risk in Sri Lanka.

They hope to bring her to the UK this autumn, with the ultimate aim of getting her into a university here.

Paul said some Huddersfield people were sponsoring youngsters to do A-levels in Sri Lanka.

It costs just £27 to sponsor a student for a year.

Paul added: "With the recent money raised we also bought 30 sets of desks and chairs and repaired a further 40 sets at a Muslim school that caters for over 1,000 children of all ages.

"The children were sitting at dilapidated furniture, which was not only dangerous but in many cases the kids couldn't even get their legs under the desks.

"It was the norm for several children to be at each desk.

"We also provided food for a week at an orphanage for girls and bought a set of swings and see-saws for an infants school."

The rescue boat, called the English Rose, is based on a beach and provides help for fishermen who get into problems out at sea. It is kitted out with life-jackets.

The girl Paul and Lynn are anxious to help is called Swisma.

They have sponsored her through her A-levels and she now wants to study law.

Paul said: "We have already applied for a visa on her behalf so she can visit UK. Hopefully she will come over during the autumn.

"It would be nice to think we could secure a place at a university over here, but we have yet to explore all the possibilities."