DONATIONS have already started to arrive in response to our Unicef South Asia Earthquake Children's Appeal.

UNICEF say they are delighted with the response but have urged readers to dig deep to help them continue their life saving work.

Currently more than 120,000 people are in urgent need of shelter and the number of people left homeless as a result of the disaster could rise to over four million.

Since day one, Unicef has emptied its warehouses in Peshawar and Karachi of blankets, high-protein biscuits, medical supplies, water purification tablets, water containers, and shelter materials. Thanks to your donations, further pre-packed emergency supplies are now being flown from Unicef warehouses in Copenhagen and Dubai and will be on the ground within days.

Unicef's major concern is the huge effect the disaster is having on children - many are injured, have been left traumatised or separated from their families.

The education system has been very heavily affected with an unknown number of schools reduced to rubble, 1,000 health centres have been damaged or destroyed, access to cut-off areas in mountainous terrain is proving difficult and Unicef has assessment teams working round the clock to reach remote areas. Unicef is now appealing for £37 million to provide emergency relief for children and families for six months. This money will be spent on buying life-saving supplies from within Pakistan and neighbouring countries - where local customs are taken into account and money spent will help to boost the local economy.

Very soon it will be time to get children who survived back to their classrooms. School provides the very structure and rhythm that they've lost, a touchstone which will help overcome shock and trauma. Unicef will assist the government to open schools or makeshift classrooms as quickly as possible and will be providing schools-in-a-box, each of which contains enough basic educational supplies for a class of 80 children.

If you want to make donations go to Unicef's website: www.unicef.org

First published: October 14