Rotary Clubs across Wiltshire have been galvanised into action as the full horror of the devastation in the Philippines becomes clearer.

Veteran fundraisers for victims of the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and the Haiti earthquake disaster of 2010, they know only too well how willing people are to give.

At a meeting on Tuesday evening, Marlborough Rotary Club members decided to fund two Shelterboxes, at a cost of £1,200, which have been sent out to the Philippines to help families affected.

On Saturday volunteers will be out in the High Street from 9am-4pm collecting money.

Rotarian Sally Wolfenden said: “We weren’t sure whether we would be able to collect money this weekend or whether we would have to wait until next weekend because you need a licence but the town council have been excellent and let us have one right away.

“We have a link with a Rotary Club in the Philippines so we know exactly where the money is going.

“The money we collect on Saturday will help to rebuild schools and community buildings unless they still need emergency supplies.

“I went to the Jubilee Centre because it will be our base on Saturday and bless the people there, straight away they were giving donations so we already have £30.

“I don’t know how many people will be collecting as everything has happened so fast so we’re just trying to organise the volunteers. I think we will go out in two-hour stints.

"I might bring my dog, Brianna, too because I have a high visibility Rotary coat for her now and she seems to get a lot of people to donate.”

Members of the Devizes Rotary Club will be out collecting in the centre of the town tomorrow and manning a stall in The Brittox all day. They will have on display one of the survival kits that Rotary sends to disaster areas.

Geoff Collins, Devizes Rotary’s immediate past president, said: “We will have the tent set up and the other contents of the Rotary emergency boxes that are sent out.

“We already had £1,000 donated. When we collected in the Brittox for the Haiti earthquake disaster two years ago we raised £3,200 in one day so we are hoping for something like that.

"It couldn’t have happened at a worse time of year though. With Children in Need and all the other Christmas appeals up and running, there are so many claims on people’s money.”

Members of Chippenham Rotary Club will be collecting in the town centre on Saturday, from 10am to 3pm.

They met earlier this week and agreed to dip into their emergency funds to buy survival kits from the charity ShelterBox.

The charity provides two different types of boxes. The first includes equipment to access clean water, including filters and pumps, and the second contains a ten-person tent and cooking utensils for a family.

Chippenham Rotary Club member Henry Miles said they were eager to help raise money to assist those in the Philippines. He said: “It’s impossible to imagine, I must say.

“We already, as a club, agreed to make a big donation from our funds to buy a couple of emergency boxes which cost something like £500 each.

“We have raised funds throughout the year by various activities and some of it has been kept back for emergencies like this.

“We were overwhelmed with donations when the tsunami happened. People were very generous and I imagine we would get the same response on Saturday.”

Members of Calne Rotary meet tonight to work out their plan of action.