Stuart Murdoch, lead singer of Belle and Sebastian has given his support to Scottish aid agencies coming together today to launch an appeal for millions of people left without food and shelter following the Bangladesh cyclone.

Under the banner of the DEC in Scotland the nine agencies will provide desperately needed relief to people suffering after one of the most ferocious cyclones to hit Bangladesh in decades.

The Scottish public can donate by logging on to the DEC website at www.dec.org.uk or phone 0870 6060900.

Public donations will be used for immediate needs such as food, clean water, medicines and shelter. But the scale of the devastation is so immense that a huge relief and reconstruction effort will be needed over the coming months.

Stuart Murdoch, said, "Bangladesh's geography and the poverty of its people make it vulnerable to storms and flooding. Even so, the recent cyclone was of extraordinary strength. There is still time to avert further deaths and misery if a coordinated campaign of rescue and aid goes ahead. Please give what you can."

Malcolm Fleming, Chair of the DEC in Scotland said, "Our member agencies are already working in Bangladesh providing humanitarian aid and we know that funds are urgently needed to be able to continue this work.

"Imagine that everyone in Scotland was made homeless overnight, for this is the scale of the emergency that we are trying to deal with. Families have been left without enough food, water, or shelter, while an estimated million homes have been destroyed or damaged and around a million acres of cropland devastated."

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