Stroud businessman Lakshman Gallage is currently in his home country of Sri Lanka visiting houses being built with cash he raised in the wake of last year's devastating tsunami. Before leaving, he told reporter Sian Davies about how the project to build ten homes is progressing a year after the disaster.

WHEN news broke of last year's Boxing Day tsunami, Lakshman Gallage knew he had to do something to help.

His first thought was to pay to re-build one of the houses swept away by the giant wall of water.

But he soon realised more aid was needed and joined forces with the SNJ to launch an appeal, eventually raising £9,000.

Now, a year on, the cash has filtered through, helping to rebuild homes and livelihoods ripped apart that fateful day.

Lakshman, a gentle, quietly-spoken man who lives with his wife and two children in Uplands, Stroud, is still stunned by how much was raised in such a short space of time.

"The response was just remarkable," he said.

"When I saw the news I knew I had to help my people.

"When the tsunami first hit everyone was donating clothes and food but I thought - after the initial period - having a house would be the most important thing people would need."

The 38-year-old started by collecting cash at his shop - Snax 24 at the London Road BP garage - and the appeal escalated from there.

Eventually, 10 homes will be built at Kalutara - a town on Sri Lanka's south west coast.

After securing a plot of land, Lakshman flew to Sri Lanka in April to start the work - and so far seven of the two-bedroom properties have been completed.

All that is needed is for the authorities to install basic services like running water.

"Although most of the houses are now finished there is still work to be done before they can be lived in and we don't have the money for that,' he said.

"I can arrange for the houses to be built but we need help to set up the electricity, roads and the sewers," he said.

However, not everything has run smoothly.

His initial target was to complete the project in six-months.

But the initial plot of land that had been promised fell through.

Then after another had been secured three foundations had to be dug up when an access route needed to be changed.

Building costs also escalated from £670 per property to around £1,200 due to new regulations.

Despite the setbacks - and the demands of running his own business and looking after his family - Lakshman's determination is paying off.

"I'm disappointed that there have been so many hiccups but I'm really proud we've come this far," he said.

"Millions of homes were destroyed in the tragedy and only about 5,000 new ones have been built so far.

"There are still a lot of people in Sri Lanka without houses."

The occupants of the homes will be selected from a list of homeless families compiled by the authorities.

But Lakshman doesn't intend to stop work once the keys are handed over. "After this is finished I want to help rebuild the schools because it is vital children are educated," he said.

He already sponsors ten Sri Lankan children to go to school.

Amazingly, half of all children in the country lost their parents in the floods.

"It only costs £5 a month for a child to go to school in Sri Lanka - which is nothing to us," he said.

"I pay for one little girl whose dad died when his train was struck as he travelled to work."