SCHOOLS and parishes across East Lancashire have been encouraged to say prayers and donate money to help the victims of the recent Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu.

The remote island nation in the South Pacific Ocean saw many communities wiped out after the storm hit one of the world’s poorest countries last week.

The Church of England in Lancashire has forged a number of links with the region in recent years through hosting visits by Melanesian missionaries and by sending staff from the Diocesan Board of Education (DBE) to Vanuatu to support and encourage education provision on the islands.

In an email sent to all parishes and schools this week Lisa Fenton, Daphne Durham and the team in the DBE encouraged urgent prayer for the islands as well as donations to be made to the emergency relief fund.

Diocesan advisor for schools Lisa, from Lower Darwen, said: “Cyclone Pam is possibly the strongest ever in the south Pacific region.

“The government of Vanuatu estimates that 80 per cent of homes have been either destroyed or have sustained significant damage.

“Communications infrastructure has been knocked out in the hardest hit islands and there are grave fears for rural communities that were directly in the path of the cyclone’s eye.

“Essential services have been wiped out on most islands, and even in the nation’s capital Port Vila, which is home to about 60,000, restoring water and electricity may take weeks.”

The vicar of St Laurence’s Chorley, Rev Martin Cox, is a trustee of The Melanesian Mission in the UK and has visited the islands.

He said: “It is devastating news.”