A SCHOOL built in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami after a News Group fundraising appeal continues to have an impact on children in Kamala Beach, Phuket, a Black Country-born church minister has said ten years after the disaster.

Former Halesowen schoolteacher Brian Burton, who runs Phuket Christian Centre on the Thai holiday island, is preparing to remember the devastating day a killer wave destroyed lives and entire communities across South East Asia.

Pastor Burton, who used to teach RE at Windsor High School, was at the centre of relief efforts in Phuket - helping survivors of the tragedy in the immediate aftermath and steering forward long-term rebuilding projects in the region, one of which saw a new ocean-side school built in shattered Kamala Beach - thanks, in part, to a News Group appeal which raised £87,000.

The money, raised in a partnership with the Rotary Club of Stourbridge, Amblecote businessman Geoff Hill and Stourbridge vicar Rev Peter Jenkins, helped towards the building a brand new, tsunami-proof school - which opened in March 2006 - just over a year after the disaster.

Pastor Burton said: "We remain very grateful for all the help that was given through the News Group appeal.

"Sadly the school staff and administration have completely changed - none of them are from Phuket or were around when we built the school.

"However, the main thing is that the children are blessed with a school that is well above what the average child can expect to see in most of the country.

"In other words our involvement may have been forgotten but the legacy we left is having a real impact on the children of Kamala.

"I'd like to thank the readers of the News one more time - their generosity is still bearing fruit; the school goes on - and we are still working hard to make Thailand a better place."

Pastor Burton has also been spearheading a project to build a brand new village for 300 people who were found to still be homeless five years ago - five years after the wave changed lives forever.

He said: "Their homes were destroyed by the tsunami and somehow they were overlooked by the government. We bought a piece of land, built houses for these families and have given them the title deeds to the properties - so the homeless have became homeowners.

"We are continuing to upgrade the village with amenities as funds come in. So the work goes on. The villagers named the place Miracle Zone Village.

"It has been amazing to see what people can do when they are given a chance."

Pastor Burton, who moved from Withymoor, Amblecote, to Phuket 25 years ago with wife Margaret to set up the Christian centre in Phuket City, said the Thai island, where the tsunami killed thousands, has developed "incredibly in the past ten years".

He added: "It is not the same place. The population has nearly doubled - new buildings abound. I think most people have moved on.

"Even at memorial services, which I am asked to take every year, I have focussed more in the past couple of years on hope for the future and building a prosperous and safe community than remembering the suffering of ten years ago.

"This year of course will be a little different as many people who lost loved ones will return - some for the first time. It may be a little harder this year, but I still feel a responsibility to sow hope as well as remembering those who were lost."

Pastor Burton will be leading a televised remembrance service in Phuket, called Light Up Phuket, on Friday December 26 in memory of all those who died a decade ago.

The memorial event, which will be attended by a host of Thai dignitaries including Provincial Mayor and Governor , will include a minute's silence and will be televised across Thailand.