MEMBERS of Dorchester Rotary Clubs welcomed some special visitors 11 years on from the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami.

A group of four fellow Rotarians from Sri Lanka visited the county town and heard details of the amazing support displayed by local people following the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004.

With support from Rotary International, the town was responsible for raising an amazing £104,000 in just 16 days of collecting.

The Rotary Clubs said to put it in perspective that was the equivalent of more than £6 for every man, woman and child in the town.

Two of the Sri Lankan visitors were members of a new club in their home country called Kandy Heritage.

They listened carefully to all the details of the response from Rotarians who were involved in the appeal at the time.

Mano Basnayake and Suman Gunawardena from the Kandy club have both been presidents of the Kandy club since it was formed in 2008 - four years after the disaster.

The Rotarians from Sri Lanka are on an exchange visit with Rotarians from the district. Their counterparts will pay a return visit in February next year.

The returning team will be visiting the area affected by the disaster and hoping to see how normality has returned as well as seeing the the schools that were rebuilt by the Sri Lanka clubs with support from many overseas clubs.

A spokesman for the Rotary Club of Dorchester added: "The computers bought thanks to the generosity of Dorchester have no doubt been replaced by later models!"

Following the talk the evening ended with a presentation of banners and everyone enjoying tea from Sri Lanka.

The Dorchester Rotary Club spokesman added: "The Dorchester clubs are very proud of their achievements and especially the trust placed in Rotary demonstrated by the citizens of the county town.

"The Dorchester club will shortly be holding a meeting to which many of the towns leading businesses and people will be invited to hear how Rotary makes such a difference and how Rotary can work with a network of businesses to do so much, both locally and farther afield."

Anyone interested in attending the meeting is asked to contact Peter Noble on 01305 264070 or email pjwnoble@gmail.com