MONTHS of hard work are paying off for Swindon's Rotary Clubs after they helped to raise £56,000 for the Tsunami Appeal.

The clubs in the town, along with the rest of Rotary District 1100, which covers part of the south west, has been helping to rebuild communities in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand following the tsunami on Boxing Day two years ago.

So far £44,000 of the money raised has been spent to help rebuild schools and the fishing industry, which was totally devastated.

Dave Fenwick, the assistant governor for the Swindon zone, said the rest of the money will be split between the three countries to make further improvements.

"In all we will have supplied 80 fishing boats, homes for 210 families, a school, 10 water wells, a shop, two generators, a tractor, and a community building," he said.

More than 200,000 people were killed when an earthquake beneath the ocean sent giant waves crashing ashore.

Places as far apart as Sri Lanka, Thailand and Somalia were affected by the disaster.

Worst affected was the Indonesian province of Aceh, closest to the quake epicentre, where more than two-thirds of the deaths occurred.

"As soon as the disaster struck we got involved because this is what the Rotary does," Mr Fenwick said.

"We help whenever there is a situation like this."

The district collected all of the money within the first three months of the tsunami.

"It took a while to figure out what the money was going to be spent on," said Mr Fenwick, of Wootton Bassett.

"Then some of the members went out to the countries affected to help with the rebuilding projects.

"It's great to see the work that's already been done."

And some of their best work has been to help rebuild the fishing industry in Sri Lanka.

In the town of Galle, the entire fishing business was wiped out - meaning hundreds of families had nothing to live on.

The money that's been raised by the Rotary Clubs has helped repair battered boats and replace those that were destroyed beyond repair.

Now the market is as busy and as noisy as ever.

But there's still work to do and Mr Fenwick says there are other projects that the rest of the money will go towards.

Although nothing has been finalised he expects some of the money will go towards a Sri Lankan medical centre, which will be used by visiting doctors and nurses.

He said villages need tractors to help cultivate the soil and generators are needed to power smaller villages.

In Thailand water purification tanks are needed and in India there is a project to rebuild a school.

"The work that's been carried out has been done by locals out there with us as well and we are pleased to be involved," added Mr Fenwick.