SWINDON’s Nepalese community has come together to set up its own relief fund to tackle the devastating effect of Saturday’s earthquake in their homeland.

At least 3,200 have died in the earthquake, medics and experts from the UK flying out last night to help in rescue efforts.

Disaster struck shortly before noon on Saturday with the impact of the quake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, most severely felt in the capital and the densely-populated Kathmandu Valley.

The RAF is expected to deliver much-needed supplies and reinforcements to Nepal today. The Foreign Office said it had not received reports of any Britons being killed or injured but embassy staff had assisted 200 people.

The Nepalese Association Of Wiltshire has held meetings across the weekend to determine how its members could best help their family and friends in their homeland.

A pre-arranged meeting with Labour’s South Swindon parliamentary candidate Anne Snelgrove got the ball rolling.

Dhan Budhathoki, 55, of Winchester Close who is a member of the Nepalese Association, said: “It’s very sad news and it’s still worrying citizens out there.

“There is still a lot of trauma going on for people.

“Many of them are outside, living in fields and tents.”

Mr Budhathoki, who moved to Swindon in 2007, has brothers and sisters still in Nepal who have felt the earthquake, but avoided any serious harm.

The Swindon security officer faced a nervous wait for news of his siblings, which didn’t arrive until he received a phone call from his brother yesterday morning.

“Everybody in the Nepalese community in Swindon has been affected,” he said.

“We are shocked and depressed seeing all of this devastating impact that is still going on.

“It’s just a worrying situation.

“The government is doing everything they can to help, but we, as a small group, will try to reach other communities here and try to raise at least some money.

“We will support with whatever we can to people who are affected. The government is not really offering help to rural areas.

“We are concentrating on the most affected people in these out-of-town areas.”

A fund will be set up by the association in the coming days, but they are encouraging anybody wishing to donate now, to send their money to official charities already working in the country, such as Oxfam.

Mrs Snelgrove said: “I have regular meetings with the Nepalese community and I have worked with them for many, many years.

“This meeting became a different type of meeting because we had found out, shortly before, the effect of the earthquake in Nepal.

“We devoted quite a large part of the meeting to discussing how we could organise something in Swindon to raise some funds and help the people in Nepal, the families and the villages where the Nepalese community have come from.”

Most deaths as a result of the quake were reported in Nepal, with deaths also being confirmed in India, Tibet, Bangladesh and the Nepal-China border.

The quake also set in motion an avalanche which swept the face of Mount Everest, killing at least 17 people and injuring 61, government officials said.

Several Britons are thought to be stranded on the world's highest peak, with access to its base camp cut off.

Those in the Nepalese capital described the impact of the quake.

Nicholas Roxburgh, a 26-year-old PhD student from Ormskirk, Lancashire, was in Kathmandu - near the epicentre of the earthquake - when disaster struck.

He has lived in Nepal for nine months, exploring the rural water system management, and was due to return to the UK on Tuesday.

Nicholas, whose brother Alasdair Roxburgh is campaigns manager at Christian Aid, said he had been sitting at his desk when the building began to sway.

He described running into the bathroom and finding an exit as soon as possible, before making his way to the street

"Just a few doors down from the building where I had been staying, a hospital stood - relatively undamaged, its staff out on the street fearing collapse. Within minutes injured people began to arrive, in cars, taxis, on foot, being carried by others.

"It was immediately clear there had been casualties. The lifeless bodies of two young children were carried in, while countless others arrived with a variety of horrific injuries - many having been hurt by falling masonry, others having been pulled from collapsed buildings," said Mr Roxburgh.

The International Trade Council, a non-governmental organisation, has appealed for businesses to donate to supplies to aid the recovery and long-term rebuilding effort.

Anyone who is caught up in the incident or worried about a family member should call the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on +44 (0) 207 008 0000.

Belgian climber Jelle Veyt told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme he had been at Everest base camp when the avalanche hit.

He said: "Immediately I went out and started screaming at people who you know would be around, to see if they are there.

"Luckily we found them but then you start to be able to see further and you see some tents blown away, even some people in tents got swept away with their tents, some of them died."

Mr Roxburgh told the Today programme: "In terms of the current situation, I have a research assistant in the the north of Kathmandu. I just finally received an email through about two days after I sent an email asking if he was OK - he is OK.

"They are struggling with supplies, with water, his family have no shelter. During the day, yesterday, the sun was pretty blazing. During the night we are getting heavy rain so it is not good conditions to be stuck outside in.

"Most people are staying out in clear spaces still, not wanting to go back to the house. It looks like water and food are big issues - yesterday most of the shops were closed. I don't know if the situation will pick up this morning.

"I think the next few days could be very, very difficult for people. Kathmandu has a water shortage at the best of times."

Oxfam's Orla Murphy, in Kathmandu, told the Today programme that aid agencies were already co-ordinating with each other after the government activated its "cluster" system.

She said: "That's the beginning of assessing what the situation is in a co-ordinated way - the various actors involved in water sanitation will come together to discuss where there are needs and how they will co-ordinate to meet those needs and not duplicate.

"We are looking at the water and sanitation needs. Our programme at the moment, we have a well-established programme in Nepal prior to this earthquake, we have teams who are able to respond immediately. In the Kathmandu valley we are today establishing water provision in two of the 16 sites the government has identified with other agencies undertaking a sanitation assessment in four of those locations.

"The information we have at the moment would indicate the £5 million (from the UK Government) at the moment won't be sufficient.

"Access to areas outside the Kathmandu valley are difficult and slow.

"As for the government and humanitarian community, the situation will become much clearer over the coming days. Of course there is the immediate humanitarian response but there is long-term reconstruction which is so important."