WHEN an earthquake struck Indonesia earlier this year, destroying villages and taking almost 2,000 lives, a Pembrokeshire woman wanted to do something to help those affected.

Rika Jones, who has family in Indonesia, living in the area where the disaster occurred, wanted to bring people together and raise money to help with the disaster relief.

Ms Jones and friends came together to organise an event that brought people from across Pembrokeshire to the Pater Hall, Pembroke Dock.

“I thought I would do a fundraising evening with a couple of my friends and we shared out the responsibilities,” she said.

“Despite being miles away [from Indonesia] I wanted to do something to help. It’s just a group of people saying, ‘We need to do something.’”

Ms Jones said the event, which featured live music from bands and choirs, went well, with almost £2,000 raised.

“It did go very very well. I was overwhelmed by the response,” she said.

“We sold tickets for the event, which included Indonesian food on the night.

“Over 100 people came, some tickets were sold before, some on the door.

“I was overwhelmed to get £1,000 on the night, and the number is still growing. It was a really great night.”

The event managed to raise £1,900, which will go the Red Cross except £100 which has gone to the Disasters Emergency Committee.