Stars help student's tsunami fund

Daisy Bell's uncle died in the tsunami

Paul McCartney, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin are among 250 celebrities who have been persuaded by an Edinburgh student to produce work for a tsunami auction.

Daisy Bell, whose uncle Robin Needham died in the Boxing Day disaster in Asia, has been raising money for a new fund to help the affected villages.

The artists and celebrities have each produced original artwork the size of a postcard.

About 60 works will be auctioned on Friday in Edinburgh.

Another 200 pieces are being sold on the internet, with bids accepted until Monday afternoon.

All of the works are being put on display at Ocean Terminal, in Leith, before being given to their new owners.

'Polite e-mail'

Mr Needham, who worked for Care International, was killed in the tsunami while on holiday with his family.

Ms Bell said she put her persuasive powers to good use as she urged stars and artists to contribute to the exhibition.

She told BBC Scotland: "I wouldn't really take no for an answer, to he honest. I tried to get hold of Damien Hirst and David Hockney on a number of occasions and I even got a polite e-mail back from Damien Hirst's PA saying he wouldn't be able to participate.

"However, I worked out that his next door neighbour was a 'friend of a friend of a friend' and really kindly took over a bit of paper and (Damien) just did a doodle on one Sunday afternoon."

Daisy persuaded Damien Hirst to "do a doodle"

Mr Needham had worked for Care International for 25 years, had been its first UK director and was the director of Care Nepal when he died.

His widow Lucy, who is in Edinburgh for the auction, said: "It's given everybody something to do, to get outside ourselves and that's very important when you're hurting - to do something for others - that can help a lot."

Bernard Williams, of Christie's auctioneers, said he was optimistic that some of the lots would do well.

He said: "Whatever happens on Friday night will be a bonus but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them fetch four-figure sums.

"I would think that probably the Damien Hirst will make the most money, it's between him and Paul McCartney, so we'll see how many Beatles fans there are out there."