A DEVON couple have launched an urgent fundraiser to help a ‘lifelong’ friend search for his missing brother following flash floods in Nepal.

Dani and Chris Cayless are raising money via GoFundMe for Tsering, pictured, whose brother Dawa is among those still unaccounted for after the disaster.

Tsering, who was best man at the couple’s wedding, has already travelled into the affected area twice by helicopter in the search for Dawa and other missing members of his family.

A Tibetan and Nepali trekking guide, Tsering has worked in the region for more than 20 years.

More than £3,800 has already been raised towards the couple’s £5,000 target, with the money going directly to Tsering to help him continue his work on the ground in Nepal.

Dani and Chris said they had launched the appeal because Tsering and Dawa are close, lifelong family friends.

‘We have created this fundraiser to help our close family friend Tsering search for his brother Dawa and other missing family members, friends and members of the community following the devastating flash floods and landslides in Nepal’, they said.

‘Tsering and Dawa are close, lifelong family friends of ours, and Nepal, their family and the communities there are incredibly close to our hearts’.

The couple said the scale of the disaster was ‘difficult to comprehend’, with villages and homes destroyed, families losing everything and many people still missing.

Tsering, who works with Dolma Treks, knows the area and its terrain particularly well.

Since the disaster, he has travelled into the affected region twice by helicopter and is personally mobilising people, aid and resources.

As well as searching for his own brother and family members, he is helping others who have been affected and trying to locate people who remain missing.

The funds raised will help cover the costs of transport into and around the affected areas, including helicopter or other transport where necessary and available.

Money will also go towards supporting people assisting Tsering with the search, as well as essential supplies, equipment and provisions.

Where possible, Tsering will also use the money to get aid and supplies to families and communities he is able to reach.

Dani has already pledged all of her earnings from her business - The Duke’s Doggy Daycare, based in Newton Abbot - this week to help with Tsering’s efforts, and the couple are now appealing to friends, family and the wider community to support the fundraiser.

‘Any amount, however small, can help keep Tsering and his team on the ground searching and supporting those who desperately need them’, said Dani and Chris.

They said that, for them, the disaster was not simply something they had seen reported in the news.

‘Tsering and Dawa are close family friends.

‘We want to give Tsering every possible resource to continue searching for his brother, his family and others who are still missing’, they said.

The couple have also asked people who cannot donate to share the fundraiser to help reach as many people as possible.