Photos of the volcanic eruption of La Palma have made the news around the world. At GeoTenerife, we want to put some of those photos to work to help the people most affected: the people of La Palma who have lost their homes and livelihoods. To date, over 1000 buildings have been destroyed by the lava, and 6000 people evacuated.

People have lost their homes but also their ongoing income. In La Palma, many families live on the proceeds of their banana plantations, which they were able to plant on old lava flows thanks to money brought back from Cuba and Venezuela by their fathers and grandfathers who emigrated there to earn a living during hard times. Turning lava fields into plantations was backbreaking work, and involved levelling the terrain and transporting soil from forested areas. Overnight, they have been destroyed by advancing lava flows. Some 50% of the island's economy is related directly or indirectly to bananas. Just replacing people's lost homes will not be enough to mitigate for this economic loss.

We are working with SAMU, a local photographer who has been documenting the eruption each night from a friend's rooftop with a telescopic lens. He himself has been evacuated as his own house is so close to the lava and in danger of being swallowed at any moment.

We offered to pay SAMU for using his photos, but he didn't want any money for himself - rather he asked us to raise money directly to help other local families around him that have lost everything in the volcanic emergency.

We are grateful for all donations, large or small. £5 could buy a volcano safety kit including goggles, FFP2 face mask and hand sanitiser. Larger donations will help towards replacing items families have lost in the emergency. Donations and acquisitions will be itemised, documented and published for full transparency.

Using the hashtag #SamuLaPalma we will be publishing a photo of his every day on Instagram (@GeoTenerife) until the end of the month, and asking anyone wanting to support La Palma to make a donation to this JustGiving account.

We will travel to La Palma at the end of the month and present Samu with the proceeds, and follow up on specifically how they are used via our social media channels (Twitter and Instagram: GeoTenerife).

MEDIA OUTLETS/PHOTO AGENCIES: A range of unpublished, high resolution images and videos are available for publication and broadcast. Please contact sharonbackhouse@geotenerife.com if interested.

PUBLIC: If reposting images we have already published, please credit @GeoTenerife @samu_bali #SamuLaPalma and consider making a donation here with a message of support for the people of La Palma.

Thank you from all the GeoTenerife team, Samu and the people of La Palma.