Wilf Scolding supports Mary’s Meals emergency appeal
Andor star backs Mary's Meals Emergency in Southern Africa charity campaign
Actor Wilf Scolding, known for his roles in Star Wars series Andor, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and The Archers, is lending his support to our Emergency in Southern Africa appeal.
Wilf says: “I want to share a message about an amazing organisation called Mary’s Meals, which currently feeds 2.6 million children in a place of education every day across the globe, thereby breaking the generational cycle of poverty that a lack of education can perpetuate.”
Southern Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 100 years. Six countries have declared a state of emergency, and the UN has called for action to avoid a full-scale humanitarian disaster in the region. In the early part of this year, some regions have finally had rain – much later than expected – but rather than helping the parched ground to recover and become fruitful, these deluges have brought flooding and washed away struggling crops and seeds.
In Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, our school meals are bringing vital relief to families who have little to no food to put on the table. The promise of Mary’s Meals means they know their children will eat at school and they can stretch the little food they have at home further.
Watch Wilf’s message below
Mary’s Meals feeds more than 2.6 million hungry children every day. The promise of a nutritious meal at school attracts these children into the classroom, where they can gain an education and hope of a brighter future. We work in 16 of the world’s poorest countries: Benin, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Sudan, Syria, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Yemen.
Our school feeding programmes are owned and run by community volunteers and locally produced food is served wherever possible. This supports the community and its farmers, as well as the wider economy.
Our low-cost approach means that it costs just £19.15 to feed a child with Mary’s Meals every day for a school year. This is only possible because of many dedicated volunteers across the globe – from people in the UK who raise awareness, to those overseas who rise early to cook nutritious meals for their children.
The Mary’s Meals story began in 2002 when founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow visited Malawi during a famine and met a mother, Emma, dying from AIDS. When Magnus asked her eldest son, Edward, what his dreams were in life, he replied simply: “I want to have enough food to eat and to go to school one day.”
