Oxfam sent 27 tonnes of emergency aid equipment to the disaster zone yesterday and called on the people of Oxfordshire to dig deep into their pockets in support of its appeal.

The Oxford-based charity wants to raise an initial £3m to help save lives now, but expects that millions more will be needed to help people rebuild their lives over the coming months as the extent of the damage becomes clearer.

Amita Arya, Oxfam's spokesman for Oxfordshire. said: "This is a time of year when most of us are relaxing at home with our families. But the chilling pictures that erupted on our TV screens on Boxing Day have brought a major disaster affecting tens of thousands of people in South and East Asia into our lives.

"We need to make sure that we do what we can to ease the suffering of the survivors."

Oxfam delivered emergency supplies from its Bicester warehouse to East Midlands Airport, where they were loaded on to a charter flight to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. It was due to arrive today.

The load includes latrines and water tanks, pumps and taps to set up emergency drinking water systems for homeless families.

Miss Arya added: "If we are to be fast, effective and save lives, it is absolutely critical that there is strong coordination to the response to this crisis at local, national and international levels.

"We have seen that this works best when national governments, donors like the European Union and the United States, all pull together with the United Nations to address crises. The scale of this catastrophe requires the biggest international response effort ever seen."

The Oxfam warehouse at Bicester was inundated with phone calls from people offering to help with the relief effort for the victims of the earthquake.

When footage of the warehouse staff loading up emergency supplies was shown on television on Bank Holiday Tuesday, warehouse manager Rod Hogg was overwhelmed by calls from people volunteering to help.

He said: "The phone was ringing non-stop. People wanted to help with the loading, local forklift drivers offered to come in and local haulage firms offered to send lorries.

"We were very grateful, but we didn't accept the offers as we have our own trained staff who already had the task in hand.

"But it was amazing. People felt so helpless. They just wanted to do something."

The four-strong team at the depot in Arkwright Road loaded equipment on to three lorries bound for East Midlands Airport.

There are many ways to donate money to the thousands affected by the earthquake disaster in Asia.

The Disaster Emergency Committee is co-ordinating an appeal for aid in the disaster-hit region, representing charities including ActionAid, British Red Cross, Cafod, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision.

Donations to the appeal can be made by calling 0870 60 60 900, or by visiting www.dec.org.uk. Donations can also be made online on the individual charity websites.

By the end of the week, people should be able to go into UK banks to donate cash or cheques made payable to the DEC Tsunami Earthquake Appeal.

From today, it is also possible to donate cash or cheques (made payable to Post Office ltd) over the counter at Post Office

branches.

A "999" PO Box has been set up by Royal Mail to speed donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal. Donations can be sent by post to: DEC Tsunami Earthquake Appeal, PO Box 999, London, EC3A 3AA (Cheques made payable to DEC Tsunami Earthquake Appeal).

To donate to Unicef the public can call: 08457 312312 or visit www.unicef.org.uk.

People can donate money at their local Oxfam shop, and also donate unwanted Christmas gifts for sale in the shops, which will raise money for Oxfam's work.