GIRLS from Headington School have collected aid to send to Nepal after a member of staff’s house was destroyed in the earthquake.

Lalita Upadhya, part of the school’s housekeeping team, has a house in Kathmandu which was severely damaged in Saturday’s earthquake – but her immediate family are all safe.

The girls at the school in Headington Road have been collecting canned and dry goods as part of an appeal by the Nepalese Community of Oxford – which will be sent to help those in need.

Mrs Upadhya said: “In my country people are in tents. They have lost everything – it is a very horrible situation. I am very happy the school has done this.”

The 37-year-old has two children, seven-year-old Roshani, a pupil at Headington Prep School and Roshan, 17, who is at Cherwell School.

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Her husband Tilak will be travelling to Nepal on Monday to meet up with family members and help those affected.

She added: “My country’s situation is so bad. I feel very lucky that so many people are trying to help. They have no food, no drink – nothing.”

The campaign to raise money was initially set up by two girls who visited Nepal in October. As an extension of the school’s fundraising efforts the whole school began collecting for the Nepalese Community of Oxford appeal.

Sasha Liwicki, 14 and Helen Tappin, 15, kicked off the fundraising efforts recognising the areas devastated by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

The campaign has already raised more than £700 for UNICEF’s emergency appeal and the nearby Waitrose has donated two trolley-loads of food.

Helen said: “After going on the trip in October, I recognised the destroyed areas from the news and was moved by the destruction. It is heartbreaking.”

The girls approached the school’s head of charities David Cunningham and planned a number of fundraising activities including a bake sale which raised £720.

Yesterday morning Oxfam loaded up 12 tonnes of aid worth around £80,000 at its warehouse in Bicester. The shipment will be flown from Birmingham Airport over the weekend and is expected to arrive in Nepal on Tuesday. The aid – which includes tents, shelters, buckets and water tanks – comes from money raised by the public for the charity’s DEC appeal.Three RAF Chinook helicopters are to be sent from Brize Norton.

The first left yesterdayand two more are to be sent over the weekend.

The helicopters will ferry aid and people across Nepal enabling supplies to arrive at hard-to-reach communities.

To donate go to dec.org.uk/appeals/nepal-earthquake-appeal