South Oxfordshire District Council has launched an appeal to help raise funds for the Third World.

It is asking businesses and individuals to give up their foreign currencies made obsolete by the arrival of the euro.

It is asking people to hand in their old money at the council's HQ in Crowmarsh, at One Stop Shops in Thame, Didcot and Henley, and at Wallingford town hall.

Leisure centres in Thame, Wallingford, Wheatley, Berinsfield, Henley and Didcot are also accepting the money.

District council chairman Eleanor Hards said all European money would go to charities like Christian Aid and the Children's Society.

It will be used to buy food, medical supplies, shelters and educational supplies in poorer countries.

Mrs Hards said: "No donation is too small -- even a single franc could buy enough maize to feed an Afghan family for a day.

"An Irish punt could stretch as far as buying a school textbook for a child in Mozambique.

"I encourage as many people as possible to seize this opportunity to raise money that could make a real difference to the lives of people in poor and poverty stricken parts of the world."