When a couple of Ilkley women took up the cause to help malnourished children in Peru, the idea seemed straight-forward.

Donations from the town’s Happiness Centre, a pop-up charity shop selling hand-made goods from the streets around Cusco and an aid worker preparing fair trade links and offering hands-on help.

But last week, their joint fundraising efforts were turned upside down.

Any progress they had made towards basic food supplies and warmth for the poor in Peru was literally washed away as flood waters swept down the Sacred Valley, destroying houses, bridges and roads in its path.

Crops of corn have been ruined, making the future of starving children in the region more uncertain than ever. Even the houses of charity workers were swept downstream, leaving their own families homeless.

The region is home to Peru’s most famous landmark – the towering 7,000ft-high Inca ruins above Macchu Pichu. Unsurprisingly, national headlines have concentrated on efforts to airlift hundreds of stranded Western tourists out of immediate danger.

But not much attention has been paid to an estimated 30,000 people who have lost their homes and the collapsed tourist industry thought to be costing Cusco up to $1 million a day.

Reports say around 20 people have died and the region has been declared a state of emergency.

The charity Casa Hogar de los Ninos del Sol is based in Ollantaytambo – the village to which tourists were moved, although it had also been cut off and left without power.

The Ilkley network of support for this project was partly triggered by a visit to Peru by therapist Carrie Kajda, who was pursuing her interest in shamanic healing.

As well as discovering traditional Inca ceremonies and rituals, she found remote mountain communities, struggling to cope with temperatures as low as -15C. She also learnt that children were walking for two to three hours a day to get to the only school, not just for education but for food.

The school, along with a kitchen and greenhouse, had been built by the founder of the Casa Hogar de los ninos del Sol, Carlos Gibaja.

“Carlos appealed for blankets which cost £7 each,” said Carrie. “We have sent money to Carlos on a monthly basis and received updates and photos since. It is so heart warming to see photos of the people receiving their blankets, and at Christmas when about 4,000 children received a gift of a doll or car, a mug of hot chocolate and fresh bread. These children would not receive any gifts normally as their families are so poor.

“It is so rewarding to be making a direct impact on the lives of the indigenous people of Peru. When the Spanish conquistadors invaded some 500 years ago the descendants of the Inca took refuge in the mountains and although the conditions are harsh they have managed to survive.”

The nutrition project is supported by donations from Ilkley’s Happiness Centre and charity shop Ayni at Arcade 7A.

Run by Kay Bottomley, the store imports goods directly from people she has met in Peru, such as hand-woven jewellery from a street seller, and prints greeting cards from pictures sent over by children at the school.

She has also been sponsoring the education of a child from Ollantaytambo called Christian, who was expected to work from the age of eight to support his mother, singing and dancing for tourists at archaeological sites, cleaning shoes and selling ice creams.

Kay said the people would make a positive effort to rebuild their lives following the floods but would still need help. She added: “As a community they are unbelievably grounded and creative and they are refusing to see it as a great disaster. They see it as something that’s required of them to make a new beginning.

“They will need all our help in the meantime as they are going to have a season of hunger whatever happens as there is nothing for this year. They will rebuild the infrastructure but for now, their crops have been devastated.”

Weather experts have calculated that rainfall in the region has been around 67 per cent greater than expected in the rainy season, causing the Urabamba River to swell and burst its banks.

Used for irrigation and fishing, the local population believe they are being punished for disrespecting the river and think the floods are teaching them a lesson.

Ilkley aid worker Leander Hollings was herself trapped on a bus for 12 hours by landslides and floods.

Already working for Casa Hogar del Sol and another children’s charity Aldea Yanapay, she is now providing emergency relief.

Appealing for funds from Peru, Leander said: “It is difficult to measure exactly how many people have been directly and indirectly affected by the recent disaster. It has been quoted in Cusco local news that up to 10,000 people in the Cusco region have lost their homes. Whether or not these estimations are correct is irrelevant. What is clear, is that the recent disaster has resulted in the need for aid for uncountable people and your small help can really make a difference.” Funds already collected have been used to supply food to displaced people such as the Paucarbamba community, just outside Urubamba, which Leander visited this weekend.

“We carried food which we had purchased in Cusco and were met by about a hundred people in dirty, sodden clothes sharing a small stable-like building and a few tents,” said Leander, who also runs the charity Mysmallhelp.

“Some aid had arrived in the form of donated clothes and tents from other organisations but this wasn’t enough. We started to help them to prepare dinner on their outdoor stove. Although the community had just lost their homes they were in good spirits offering cooking tips to us and making jokes.

“Our small help delivering food to this community was very much appreciated and needs to continue. They have asked us to go back with food each day and to deliver blankets and tents urgently.”

Donations can be made through Mysmallhelp via Paypal to leander.hollings@mysmallhelp.org using the reference Cusco Emergency or by bank transfer at Lloyds Bank.