Ian and Debbie Paver have initiated a £30,000 donation to Mary’s Meals through the Pavers Foundation, a charity which provides one good meal a day to some of the world’s poorest children during their time in school.
This donation will feed children living in the world’s poorest countries every school day for a whole year. In-turn giving children living in poverty access to an empowering education, where they have the chance to fulfil their aspirations of a bright future for themselves, their families and surrounding communities.
Mary’s Meals provides a nutritious daily meal in a place of education in some of the world’s poorest places such as Myanmar, Haiti, India, and Kenya, to encourage children to attend school and work towards their dreams and ambitions.
In an incredible turn of events, this life-changing donation has been match funded by the UK government through the ‘Double the Love’ campaign. As such an amazing £60,000 has been donated in total to Mary’s Meals.
Until 1 March 2019, public donations to Double The Love will be matched by the UK government, up to £2 million, helping Mary’s Meals reach more hungry children in Zambia.
“The match funding means that 4,329 children will be given a substantial meal every school day for a whole year. We are all so very lucky to able to change lives with the help of the Pavers Foundation.” Debbie & Ian Paver
The Double The Love campaign will help Mary's Meals reach more hungry children in Zambia
For little Eneless, the promise of Mary’s Meals every day in school fuels her dreams of becoming a teacher. Life is tough for Eneless and thousands of other children living in Zambia where many households now eat just once a day. The 10-year-old said: “Phala (porridge) makes me feel powerful and strong because I know it is good for me.”
Before receiving Mary’s Meals at Yosefe Primary School, Eneless used to arrive at school hungry and felt too tired and weak to study in class.
Now, with the promise of a nutritious meal when she attends school, Eneless is able to eat and has the energy to learn and play with her friends. She said: “School is important so I can get educated. I want to be a teacher when I am older.”
In 1992, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow and his brother Fergus decided to organise an appeal, to collect food, clothing, medicines and donations from the local community of Argyll, Scotland. Two weeks later the brothers joined an aid convoy in Bosnia to deliver the donated goods to those in need. This is where Scottish International Relief was founded, over the next ten years SIR began to provide life-changing aid to places such as Romania, Liberia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Whilst providing famine relief in Malawi, Magnus met a mother called Emma who was dying of AIDS. She lay on the floor of her hut surrounded by her six young children, desperate that her children would be cared for after her death. Edward, Emma’s eldest son, expressed his hope in life:“I want to have enough food to eat and to go to school one day.”
These words helped inspire Magnus to found Mary’s Meals - 17 years later the charity feeds more than 1.4 million children every day in a place of education.
Christina Lynas, Community Fundraising Manager at Mary’s Meals, said:
“Our wonderful supporters never cease to amaze us with their kindness and determination to help us reach the next hungry child with Mary’s Meals.
“We are incredibly grateful to Ian and Debbie for their generous donation. We are delighted that during our Double The Love campaign, we have a wonderful opportunity to create an even bigger impact by transforming the lives of many more hungry children in Zambia with the gift of food and education.”
