It may have been cold last Saturday but the people of Romsey, young and old, showed that their hearts were warm.

In only four hours, the street collection in aid of the Haiti ShelterBox appeal raised of £2,347.

The collection was organised by the Rotary Club of Romsey Test with help from the Romsey Rotary Club and the ladies of Inner Wheel.

ShelterBox is a Rotary charity which sends pre-packed boxes of equipment into disaster areas It has a team on site in Haiti to organise distribution to the people.

Some of the first ShelterBoxes to be delivered are even being used as post-operative treatment wards by medical staff.

Collection organiser John Gould said: “While the tins and buckets quickly became heavy with coins, almost half the money we collected was in notes -– a tribute to the generosity of Romsey people.”

Other donations from Romsonians have brought the grand total collected to £2900, enough to fund six ShelterBoxes, which will provide temporary homes for 60 people in Haiti.

The ShelterBox on display in the Cornmarket attracted plenty of attention. The tent, cooking equipment, water treatment units, tools and survival blankets were a poignant reminder of how much the Haitian people have lost.

Next door to the ShelterBox, the Romsey Lions book-stall was doing a brisk trade. The proceeds, with other funding from the Lions, will add another two ShelterBoxes to the Romsey total.

Anyone still wishing to make a donation can do so direct to ShelterBox online at: http://www.shelterbox.org/