THE strength of ties between the United Kingdom and Indian Ocean countries stricken by the tsunami emerged in the pattern of giving to victims of the disaster.

Muslims and Hindus sprung into action to help people from their lands of origin as schools, churches and charities with links to the region began collecting vigorously.

BP, a big investor in many of the stricken nations, made a donation of $3 million (£1.5 million) through the BP Foundation, to be shared between the Red Cross and Crescent, Oxfam and Unicef.

Cricketing ties to Sri Lanka encouraged England’s “Barmy Army” of travelling fans to donate proceeds from a post-Test Match party in Durban to disaster relief. The England players personally gave £15,000 and the Professional Cricketers’ Association added £5,000.

Premier League football clubs have donated £1 million between them.

The internet accelerated the pace of giving. Families who spent the holiday watching television images of the tidal waves from their living rooms logged onto their home computers and instantly donated millions of pounds.

A common theme among donors was the contrast between domestic excess and the horrors experienced by South-East Asia’s ravaged coastal communities.

Children in Spa Road, Weymouth, donated presents including toys and sweets to an impromptu jumble sale held in a front garden. A customer at an Oxfam shop in Wantage gave £400 that she had intended to spend on a new carpet.

Sellers on eBay auctioned books and jewellery, asking for cheques to be made to tsunami-relief charities instead of themselves.

One man telephoned Islamic Relief to say that he was sacrificing his holiday to donate £2,000 instead. The charity collected £100,000 in two days.

Grief was felt most acutely in Britain’s minority faith communities. Muslims in the impoverished Bangladeshi areas of London’s East End held door-to-door collections. Ajom Khan, of the East London Mosque in Whitechapel, said that all mosques would be holding collections at prayers today. Young, fit voulunteers may be sent to Bangladesh to help.

Relatives of the missing have gathered at Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, the Hindu temple in Neasden, north-east London, to be comforted by priests. Many have no idea whether their families have survived.

A team of 100 Hindus immediately volunteered to help. One of them, Girish Patel, said: “Teenagers have so much motivation. They are just giving up their time to go to shopping centres and raise funds.”

The ambassadors of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh will attend prayers for disaster victims in the temple at 5.30pm on Sunday.

Owners of corner shops and filling-station workers who originated from the Indian sub-continent have placed collection boxes on their counters.

People returning from the stricken zone have been eager to relieve the suffering they left behind. Max Mackay-James, a doctor from Dorchester, said that he wants to collect medical supplies and take them to Sri Lanka, where his family escaped unscathed from a devastated hotel. Louise Davies, a nursery owner from Louth, Lincolnshire, launched a collection after surviving the wrecking of her hotel in Sri Lanka.

One British man telephoned Oxfam to donate £1,000 after his daughter rang home to say that she was safe. Michelle Mone, the Scots bra maker due to manufacture clothing in a Sri Lanka factory which has been destroyed by the waves, has offered £40,000 in underwear to the region.

The holiday weekend will boost collections. Crowds lining the streets of London for the New Year’s Day Parade will be invited to throw cash into buckets. Islamic Relief’s Bradford branch is holding a dinner tomorrow night.

The Disaster Emergency Committee said that a tenth of its money was being donated on the internet. Oxfam said that its website had received record hits from donors.

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