THE people of Oxford are being urged to continue helping Nepalese communities devastated by last year's earthquakes at a talk next week.

The earthquakes in April 2015 – which killed almost 9,000 people and injured a further 22,000 – left many communities in the country devastated.

On Tuesday national charity Community Action Nepal will return to Oxford thanks to one of its trustees Phil Powell – who has organised a talk from a mountaineering legend.

The Rose Hill man praised the people of Oxford for their generosity last year, as hundreds in the city donated packages and money to the cause, and urged more to come along to keep up the recovery operation.

He said: "We are so grateful to the people of Oxford and the wider county for all their efforts to raise money for communities in Nepal.

"They have supported our events for many years and the earthquake last year really brought in back into focus and people here were great."

Mr Powell fell in love with the country when he visited in 35 years ago and on his watch next week's lecture will be the ninth in eight years, which has seen more than £50,000 raised for the charity.

Funds from the event will go towards things like health posts, shelters and providing equipment for schools in some of the worst affected areas of the country.

The 60-year-old said: "The money will continue to support the reconstruction and recovery of the mountain communities devastated by the earthquake.

"The charity has been raising money for years for around 45 projects in these areas, after the earthquake all of the projects have been completely set back and we need to keep raising money."

Mountaineer Mick Fowler - three time winner of the Piolet d'Or, which translates as the Golden Axe – will talk through his incredible experiences.

The charity's founder Doug Scott MBE, the first Englishman to climb Mount Everest urged people to come along to raise money to help communities rebuild.

He said: "I wouldn’t have even got to a base camp, never mind any summit, without the help of the local mountain people.

"There’s nothing these guys can’t and won’t do for you, but their societies are under immense pressure from natural disasters like the 2015 earthquake which had devastating effects in terms of loss of life, people injured and destroyed infrastructure.

"This lecture will raise vital funds to help Himalayan mountain communities recover and rebuild their lives."

Before the talk and during the interval Nepalese goods and signed mountain prints will be sold with all proceeds going towards supporting the work of Community Action Nepal.

Tickets are available from Elmer Cotton in Turl Street or online at eventbrite.co.uk and the talk starts at 7pm in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.