A PAKISTAN-BORN businessman has launched an appeal to raise £120,000 for flood victims in his home country.

When Nas Khan arrived on Teesside at the age of 14 he could not speak English, but went on to become managing director of the Jennings Motor Group, which employs 470 people in the region.

Mr Khan, 50, is organising fundraising events to buy lifesaving water purifiers, called Life Straws, for flood victims.

Mr Khan is aiming to bring hope to the people of Rahim Yar Khan, an area south of Punjab, in Pakistan, which has been destroyed by the swollen Indus river.

He also plans to build a new village with 60 homes, and provide livestock and clean drinking water to ensure it is self-sufficient.

He will hold car washes at the group’s Ford, Mazda and Seat dealerships in Middlesbrough, Stockton, Sunderland, Gateshead and South Shields, South Tyneside.

Events will also include a charity dinner, bike ride and an Asian henna night.

Mr Khan said: “It is heartbreaking to think that young children are dying for the want of a £3 Life Straw, and I just want to do what I can to prevent that happening.”

In 2006, he set up children’s charity The Emaan Foundation, after a visit to Pakistan following the Kashmir earthquake.

His family came across a young child who had lost his parents in the disaster and had not eaten for days.

The foundation helps to pay the running costs of an orphanage and school in the Muzaffarabad district and it has raised £30,000 towards aid for the people of Kashmir.

Mr Khan’s father, who worked in Teesside’s steel mills, is now in Pakistan helping to co-ordinate aid work.

The floods began in July following heavy monsoon rains.

It is estimated that 20,000 people have died and more than a million homes have been destroyed.

Mr Khan said: “This is a cause very close to my heart and I am determined to reach the fundraising target.”

To help, visit emaanfoundation.

org ■ A collection for victims of the floods will be held at Masham Sheep Fair, in Masham, North Yorkshire, today.

A stall will sell home-made produce such as cakes, jams, candles and home-grown plums in aid of the appeal.

The fair runs today and tomorrow, with entries from around the region. The fair website is at mashamsheepfair.com