GENEROUS people in Worc-estershire and Herefordshire have raised £10m to help the emergency relief effort after the Boxing Day tsunami disaster last year, according to Oxfam figures.

The tsunami claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 people and left hundreds of thousands more homeless and destitute.

Among those who died were John and Annie Hofton, of Wichenford, near Worcester, who were on holiday in Khao Lak, Thailand, when it was struck by the huge tidal wave.

Money donated in Worcester-shire included thousands of pounds raised in their memory, through events such as a golf tournament and the sale of a teddy bear collection.

Others miraculously survived, like 28-year-old Stephen Hunter, from Broadwas, near Worcester, who helped raise money in memory of his friend, Lisa May, who lost her life.

Stephen, who was working as a dive master on the Thai island of Koh Phi Phi, is still undergoing treatment for the horrific leg injury he suffered as he was swept 150 metres by the wall of water.

Rotary clubs in Worcest-ershire and Herefordshire worked through sister clubs in the region to take immediate help to the affected areas, helping to raise nearly £300,000 to buy and equip a fleet of 65 fishing boats for a community in southern India. Clubs also donated many specially designed 'village in a box' Shelterboxes.

By the end of February, £350m had been donated to the Disasters Emergency Comm-ittee appeal.

One year on, Oxfam has produced a report to show how it has spent the public's money and what has been achieved.

It has focused on digging wells, providing toilets, restoring clean water supplies and rebuilding people's lives by providing cash-for-work programmes and restoring old industries. Ruth Stockdale, of Oxfam in Hereford and Worcester, said: "Initially donations meant life or death for people. Now they are helping to rebuild people's lives, providing homes, work and a future that may not have seemed possible in the aftermath of the Boxing Day disaster."