Concerned with the evidence of starvation, and the slowness of large scale organisations to respond, three Scots with long contacts with the country; Colin Cameron, Patsy Colvin and Andrew Ross set up the Scottish Relief Fund for Malawi.

Its aims have been to provide immediate food relief to some of the most needy and vulnerable. To date around £45,000 has been raised within and beyond Scotland, and the money disbursed to hospitals, rehabilitation units, feeding projects and village support schemes in each of the three Regions.

The fund will be closed by the middle of October in the hope that by then the major agencies will be in a position to tackle the problems in a more co-ordinated way.