MEMBERS of Dorset's small Russian community have begged readers to keep on giving to the Echo Beslan Appeal.

Still in shock after gunmen killed hundreds of innocent hostages at Middle School number one, Russian-born Yelena Harris-Fletcher and Marina Brookes from Moscow urged people to help their countrymen left so scarred by the Beslan horrors.

Now Alma Rolston has also stepped forward to thank Echo readers for their donations, which reached more than £3,000 over the weekend.

Mrs Rolston, 37, lives with her husband in Wyke Regis and works as a systems assistant in Tesco in Weymouth town centre. She said: "There are lots of kind people in Dorset, and it is great they are raising so much money.

"I believe the people of Beslan will be very, very grateful and if they could say thank you very much to every person, they would.

"This means they can still smile after these awful days."

Mrs Rolston spoke out after hearing children's accounts of seeing their classmates shot.

It could take years to conquer their trauma, borne of sheer terror as 350 people died around them.

More than 50 young bodies lie unidentified in Russian morgues, and families still seek their missing loved ones.

Mrs Rolston - who used to be a television presenter in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan - said sadly: "I made lots of programmes about the political and economical situation.

"Those children did not stand a chance, they were caught up between terrorism and politics. My heart is cracked, it was painful to watch."

Mrs Rolston said: "The siege and massacre did not break the people of Beslan, they are very hard working and proud. But they still need your help.

"It does not matter who you are or what you are, you can give more money, it is really important for them.

"The children need to go back to school and back to normality if they can."