Mary’s Meals was born in 2002 when Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, from Dalmally in Argyll, visited Malawi during a famine.
A nutritious meal, funded by a donation of just 10p, brings hungry children into the classroom, where they can gain an education and better opportunities for the future. The charity now provides millions of school meals daily in countries such as Haiti, South Sudan and Syria.
MacFarlane-Barrow said: “When we first began serving Mary’s Meals in one small primary school in Malawi back in 2003 we could never have imagined that this would grow into a global movement now serving more than three million children every school day.
“This work has grown the way it has because all over the world people of goodwill are sharing a little of what they have so that children can eat and go to school, thus gaining an education that can set them free from poverty.
“We see that each time local volunteers begin to serve our school meals, using locally sourced food, hope enters in. Children begin attending school for the first time, because of the promise of a meal. And those who were previously too hungry to concentrate in class are now able to learn.”
Last month Edinburgh schoolboy Lochlan McCole climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise £1,000 for Mary’s Meals. In September, 87-year-old Great Grandmother Ellison Hudson will tackle 30 miles on her tricycle to celebrate the charity reaching the three million mark.
MacFarlane-Barrow has issued a rallying call for people across the UK to help the charity to reach the next million hungry children waiting for a meal, with 71 million primary school-age children out of school.
Mary’s Meals’ low-cost approach means a hungry child can learn on a full stomach for just 10p. You can feed a hungry child every day for a whole school year for only £19.15. For more information and to donate, visit: marysmeals.org.uk