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Mary's Meals, formerly known as Scottish International Relief (SIR), is a
registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...
which sets up school feeding programmes in some of the world's poorest communities, where hunger and poverty prevent children from gaining an education. It was founded in 2002 and has grown from its first feeding operation of 200 children in Malawi, to a worldwide campaign, providing
free school meal A school meal (whether it is a breakfast, lunch, or evening meal) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world offer various kinds of schoo ...
s in hundreds of schools and feeding more than two million children daily. Mary's Meals is named after
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
, the mother of
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
, by its founders, who were inspired by their
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
faith, although the charity is not a Catholic organisation.


History

SIR began in 1992 during the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
, when brothers Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, OBE, FRSGS, and Fergus MacFarlane-Barrow organised a local appeal for blankets and food. They filled a Jeep with aid and delivered their cargo to
Medjugorje Medjugorje (, ) is a village in the municipality of Čitluk in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1981, it has become a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage due to Our ...
in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
. They returned to Scotland expecting to resume work as fish farmers in
Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...
, but in their absence, their parents' shed had been filled with yet more donations, resulting in eventually driving from Scotland to Bosnia a total of 23 times to deliver supplies. Magnus took a 'gap year' and has never gone back to his old job. The project was registered as a charity, then named as Scottish International Relief. During a trip to
Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
in 2002, Magnus decided to attract girls and boys to school by providing meals. From feeding 200 children in southern Malawi in 2002, Mary's Meals now works with communities in 17 different countries around the world, providing meals for more than 2.4 million children every school day. In 2023, Mary's Meals was awarded the .


Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow

In 2010, Magnus was praised as a
CNN Hero ''CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute'' is a television special created by CNN to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to humanitarian aid and make a difference in their communities. The program was started in 2007. Since 2016, the ...
for his role in founding and running Mary's Meals. He was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) in the
2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 '' New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...
.United Kingdom: In April 2015, he was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. Magnus' book, The Shed That Fed A Million Children, reached the UK's prestigious
Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specificat ...
and
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
best-seller list immediately after its release. Magnus has also received honorary degrees from the
University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...
,
Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...
, the
University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...
, and the
University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...
. Magnus has given many public talks to audiences large and small, including delivering the key note address at the
World Food Prize The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate No ...
in 2013. He has also spoken at youth festivals and Christian conferences and other speaker events geared at a variety of audiences including entrepreneurs, food industry experts and educators. Magnus was awarded the Human Dignity Award in 2014, by the speaker of the Dail (Irish Parliament) on behalf of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) Human Dignity Group, in recognition for his contribution to human rights and dignity. Soon after, Magnus met Julie, a nurse, who volunteered to help him deliver emergency aid. Julie became committed to the charity, and its founder too. The couple married and now have seven children together.


Mary's Meals

Mary's Meals is a global movement which sets up school feeding programmes in communities where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education. Mary's Meals provides daily meals in school for more than one million children in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. Support for Mary's Meals is global, with fundraising groups in Australia, Austria, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, UAE, UK and USA.


Malawi

In Malawi, usually land is donated in order to build a kitchen adjacent to the school. Teachers and parents organise a pool of volunteers who will take their turn cooking and serving the meals. Mary's Meals provides the kitchen, cooking equipment, training, ongoing support and of course, regular supplies of nutritious Likuni Phala. Each project is visited regularly by Mary's Meals' staff to support the volunteers and ensure the smooth running of the programme. They also collect data from the school to monitor the impact school feeding is having on the students.


The Backpack Project

One of Mary's Meals' projects is The Backpack Project, which encourages supporters to donate school backpacks and fill them with materials such as notebooks, pencils, flip-flops and T-shirts to send to children in Malawi. The Backpack Project was the subject of TV coverage through Five's Britain's Kindest Kids competition, and an STV feature on
Holyrood Secondary School Holyrood Secondary School is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the south-side of Glasgow, Scotland. It is notable for its comparatively large secondary school enrollment, having had over 2,000 pupils and 150 teaching staff. Holyrood is located ...
pupils' visit to Malawi.


Emergency Aid

Today, the main focus of Mary's Meals is its school feeding programmes, but it also has a history of providing emergency relief to many countries, such as Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia and
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
.


Somalia

During the
2011 East Africa drought Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...
, Mary's Meals launched a public appeal for funds to help people suffering as a result of the famine in Somalia which, at its height, was estimated by the UN to be claiming the lives of 250 children every day. Joining forces with South African charity Gift of the Givers, Mary's Meals has sent likuni phala – the same nutritional maize-based porridge that it feeds to children at Mary's Meals school feeding programmes in Malawi – to the Somali capital Mogadishu. As of April 2012, food from Mary's Meals – cooked and served in feeding camps by Gift of the Givers – has amounted to 6.8 million meals.


Haiti

On 12 January 2010 a magnitude 7
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
struck Haiti at around 5 pm local time. The quake killed an estimated 200,000 people, left thousands more homeless and devastated the capital
Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...
. Haiti was already the poorest nation in the Americas before this disaster which was why Mary's Meals was working there. Members of the team of Mary's Meals partners in Port-au-Prince were killed and their office buildings destroyed. In nearby
Cité Soleil Cité Soleil (; ; English: ) is an extremely impoverished and densely populated commune located in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area in Haiti. Cité Soleil originally developed as a shanty town and grew to an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 resi ...
the 8 schools served by Mary's Meals were badly damaged. Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow visited Haiti a few days later and once more in July 2010. He reported progress in the massive rebuilding projects underway but expressed that with the amount of money being donated not enough was being done by the charities working in Haiti.


Burma

Cyclone Nargis Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis (; , ) was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar during early May 2008. The cyclone made landfall in Myanmar on Friday ...
left thousands dead and thousands more homeless with their livelihoods ruined. Mary's Meals already had partners in Burma and their long experience of working in the particularly difficult conditions within Burma meant they were able to gain access to areas badly affected by the floods. As a result, Mary's Meals were able to run several relief and rehabilitation projects. Among them are: the provision of food, clean water and clothing, the rebuilding of 3 schools destroyed by the storms and an orphanage that will provide care for abandoned children.


Bangladesh

In November 2007 a cyclone caused waves 10 to 15 feet in height that swept away the fragile houses of the poor in Borguna, Bangladesh. Relief materials were distributed. The community appealed to Mary's Meals for assistance and soon they were providing help to rebuild a collapsed secondary school in Borguna. The reconstructed building was designed to double up as cyclone shelter to protect people from the community from storms in the future.


Iona House

Some of SIR's first projects after the Balkan conflict were with the orphans of Eastern Europe – particularly Romania. Here it built and maintained homes for abandoned children many of whom were orphaned by the AIDs epidemic. The first such house was called Iona House – named after the Hebridean Island where one of SIR's support groups was based. The orphans were moved from cots in hospitals which they had never left and taken to the house. When they arrived some of them, as old as 7, were so starved of care that they had never even learned to walk, having never been taken out of their cots. The children are now young adults but the homes continue to provide them with the support they need. Mary's Meals operate two other similar homes in Romania.


Sponsor A School

The Sponsor A School campaign is another project carried out by Mary's Meals. Sponsor A School involves an individual or group meeting the costs of feeding children at any given school. The campaign runs in Malawi and
Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
. All those who sponsor a school have a plaque featuring text of their choice erected at the school and a document giving the school's profile.http://www.marysmeals.org/Fundraising/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20-Facts-About-Marys-Meals1.pdf


Sustainability

Mary's Meals buys locally sourced food – which helps boost local economies – and provides it in a sustainable way with a view of the overall development of the countries it works in. The idea is to empower the skilled and educated young population in developing countries that can only benefit the country's economy and help break the
poverty cycle In economics, a cycle of poverty, poverty trap or generational poverty is when poverty seems to be inherited, preventing subsequent generations from escaping it. It is caused by self-reinforcing mechanisms that cause poverty, once it exists, to ...
. Mary's Meals takes a long-term view, but all its projects are aimed at eventual self-sufficiency in the communities in which it operates.


Fundraising

Although Mary's Meals is an international charity, it is still the UK in which the charity has the largest infrastructure of supporters in place. Support groups meet and hold events in towns and cities in the UK. Parishes and businesses have adopted the charity in many areas. Mary's Meals also has several charity shops in various UK locations. In the last few years Mary's Meals has sought to extend its support beyond the borders of the UK. Mary's Meals now have supporter bases in America, Australia, Austria, Germany, Croatia, Ireland, Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina. These bases raise money and awareness for the charity in their areas. Some take part in The Backpack Project and all fundraise for Mary's Meals.


World Porridge Day

Mary's Meals holds a World Porridge Day fundraiser on 10 October. The first of the days was held in 2009. The 2009 day included gatherings in the United States, France,
Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
,
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
and Sweden. Some countries it works in include Haiti, Burma, India, Kenya, Zambia, Liberia, and Thailand. In 2009 the organisation was feeding over 300,000 children a day.
Stoats Porridge Bars Stoats is a British company which sells porridge and other oat based products based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Stoats was founded in 2005 and retails in Britain and other countries. History Porridge producer Stoats was founded by Tony Stone and B ...
was the official World Porridge Day partner in 2016. The
World Porridge Making Championship The World Porridge Making Championship has been running since 1994, giving a main prize of the "Golden Spurtle" trophy and the title "World Porridge Making Champion" for the best traditional porridge made with only oatmeal, water and salt. A pri ...
has taken place alongside the day since 2009.


See also

*
Medjugorje Medjugorje (, ) is a village in the municipality of Čitluk in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1981, it has become a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage due to Our ...
*
Our Lady of Medjugorje Our Lady of Medjugorje (), also called Queen of Peace () and Mother of the Redeemer (), is the title given to the Marian apparition, visions of Mary, the mother of Jesus, said to have begun in 1981 to six Herzegovinian Croat children in Medjugo ...


References


External links


Mary's Meals Official SiteCraig Lodge Official SiteMedjugorje Official Site
*Profile in the Daily Record—
Network of International Development Organisations in ScotlandArticle about Liberia in The Telegraph Christmas Appeal 2008
{{Authority control Children's charities based in Scotland 1992 establishments in Scotland Food policy in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1992 Organisations based in Argyll and Bute Development charities based in the United Kingdom Recipients of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize