CHILDREN who had their schools destroyed by the Nepalese earthquake in April have been given £2,000 by a city centre shop.

Staff at Fairtrade at St Michael’s donated the money from their profits to help support victims of the disaster and help them return to lessons.

A total of £1,000 was handed to Fair Trade Group Nepal, which supports underprivileged producers in the country, and another £1,000 to the Esther Benjamins Trust (EBT).

EBT was set up to rescue and care for Nepalese children who are at risk of traffickers and improve access to education in local communities. It now rebuilds schools destroyed by the earthquakes.

The devastating disaster in April killed 10,000 people and left two million needing their homes rebuilt.

Feng Ho, publicity and marketing manager for the shop, based at St Michael’s Church in Cornmarket Street, said: “We are just amazed how much support we have had from people in the city towards fair trade, especially during the recession.

“Lots of our products that we sell are from Nepal and this means we have always had close contact with people in the country,” added the 34-year-old.

“As Oxford is a university city we often take something like education for granted and we forget that not everyone can get free schooling.”

The donation from the shop’s profits will help provide a temporary school building at the site of Kalidevi Primary School in the rural village of Khairang VDC, based in the Makwanpur district.

Each new building provides two classrooms and will be made out of bamboo and tin sheets.

It will support around 100 children until the original school is rebuilt.

Schoolchildren in the village have to walk for over seven hours to reach the nearest road capable of holding motor vehicles.

Makwanpur, about 90km from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, was one of the worst-hit districts in the earthquake, suffering from landslides which forced residents to camp outside their damaged homes.

Ian Kerr, chief executive of EBT, thanked the shop for providing a school for the children.

He said: “Lack of drinking water had created a problem from the very early days in the school and even the toilet had been destroyed completely, rendering it unusable and unsafe for young children.

“This is a wonderful act that will keep children dry now while the monsoon rages and give shelter during the hot sun which is often above 90 degrees.”

As reported in the Oxford Mail, hundreds rallied round the city’s Nepalese community following the earthquake, with residents either heading out there to help or raising cash at home.

Fairtrade at St Michael’s is an independent fair trade business which sells a diverse range of products including homeware and jewellery.

To date the shop has raised £45,000 for various charities.