AN EAST Lancs woman touched by the plight of two Thai children orphaned by the Asian tsunami has raised money to send the pair to school.

And Ribble Valley villagers have come to the aid of the youngsters after hearing of their situation.

The two children, 12-year-old Warutnee Nabangchan and Manee Ratana, 11, lost their parents in the Boxing Day tidal wave that swept across south-east Asia in 2004.

Too poor to afford to go to school, their futures looked bleak until former Ribchester woman Allyson Parker, who now lives in Phuket, Thailand, came to their aid.

Former teacher Allyson, 52, had spent the year since the tsunami helping those who had lost family members, homes and jobs to get back on their feet.

She wrote to her parents, Maureen and John Crowther, of Water Street, Ribchester, to explain how school is free, but it costs around £15 a month to pay for transport, books, pens, paper and lunches a cost which bars some children from ever going to classes.

Villagers then set up The Koa Lak Education Fund Committee a group named after a Thai village devastated by the tsunami that helps children whose lives had been ruined by the disaster.

Since setting up the project last year, Maureen's fund has raised £2,111, which will pay for the pair to attend school for a least five years.

Allyson, who was brought up in Water Street and attended Longridge High School and Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, moved to south-east Asia more than 20 years ago with her husband's work. She has lived in Thailand for eight years, after living in the Philippines and Hong Kong, and is now a voluntary worker for the Duang Prateep Foundation, a Bangkok-based charity that support impoverished children in Thailand.

Maureen said: "The people of Ribchester have been so generous. A committee was set up at a meeting at the White Bull and word soon began to spread about the appeal.

"In no time people have donated enough for us to send these children to school. Allyson brought their plight to our attention and she's done a marvellous job raising awareness.

"The problem is that,while schools are free, everything else costs money. The orphans can't go because they have no parents to pay for them, and their grandparents don't have the money.

"An initiative like this will make such a difference to these children's lives. Thank you very much to all who have helped."

The work of the Koa Lak Education Fund will continue, in the hope of helping more children, with a £1 stall at the village's May Market on May 29.

For further information contact Mrs Crowther on 01254 878373.