Highlands charity Mary’s Meals has reached a new milestone, now providing more than 3 million children with a daily school meal across 16 countries.
The charity began in 2002 when founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow visited Malawi during famine and asked a young boy named Edward about his hopes for the future.
Edward’s reply “I want to have enough food to eat and to go to school one day” inspired the movement.
Despite global aid cuts and rising costs, Mary’s Meals has expanded rapidly in 2024, adding 800,000 children to its programmes in countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia and Haiti.
Each meal costs just 10p, and less than £20 feeds a child for an entire school year.
Magnus said: “We’ve chosen the 8th of September for celebrating that we feed over 3 million children every school day because this is the day we celebrate Our Lady’s birthday. So, on this day we give it back to her all this work. Mary’s Meals is hers!”
He added: “Despite this big number of 3 million, for me Mary’s Meals remains a very simple thing… Each of them has a name, each of them is loved by God.”
Volunteers and supporters have been central to the mission, from an Edinburgh schoolboy climbing Kilimanjaro to raise funds, to an 87-year-old great-grandmother preparing to cycle 30 miles.
Roy Peachey from the organisation told Premier Christian News: "The simplicity of Mary's Meals, with the great stewardship of the donations that are given, really hits home".