SCREAMS of children left homeless and injured by the devastating Haitian earthquake have kick-started a Dorset effort to help victims.

Schools and organisations in the county town have joined forces to rally residents to give as much cash as possible and provide emergency aid for hundreds of thousands of Haitians.

Up to three million people have been affected by the magnitude 7.3 earthquake – with tens of thousands feared dead.

Now a local emergency appeal – consisting of Dorchester schools, Dorchester rotary clubs and Wessex FM – is calling on people to give money to buy shelterboxes and water survival boxes.

Students at the Thomas Hardye School responded by designing a logo for the county town’s relief effort. Fundraising will take place at the school and at middle schools also belonging to the Dorchester Area Schools Partnership.

Hardye’s teacher Andrew Popkin said: “I showed the kids in my tutor group a BBC news report on the earthquake and they fell silent.

“They came back and told me that they really wanted to help.”

Year 13 student Tom Hearing said the tremors from the earthquake registered on the school’s seismometer.

He said: “It brings it home to you when you see the size of the earthquake. It’s not a nice feeling seeing something like that.”

Steven Rowe, of Year 11, chairman of the school’s Student Voice, said: “We’re going to come up with as many different ways of raising money as we can at our next meeting.”

Rotarians from Dorchester and Dorchester Casterbridge Rotary clubs said hearing the screams of stricken youngsters in Haiti spurred them into action.

Dorchester Rotary Club president Richard Lock said: “Those screams were horrifying. We felt we had to do something. Dorchester raised £100,000 for the tsunami. There’s a need to react to things like this.”

Street collections will will in South Street on Saturday, Wednesday, January 20 and Saturday, January 23 between 9am and 5pm.

Town crier Alistair Chisholm will also be in the town centre spreading the word about the appeal.

Cheques should be made payable to ‘Dorchester Rotary Club’ and can be sent to 1 Moraston Street, Poundbury, DT1 3RG. To make an online donation visit www.justgiving.com/rcd