Mary's Meals

She's got a lot of family reaching out to her and, you know, letting her know they're okay and they just want her to be where she's at and keep her mind and heart here while she's here.

But she's going to come and talk about just... how that has been to live through four wars, you know, the struggles, the hardships, and the joy of serving and the importance of forgiveness, right? And she's also associated with Mary's Meals.

Mary's Meals feeds their children at their place of education.

So she knows Magnus well, and so we're looking forward to having her wonderful, wonderful sister.

Beautiful reconnect there.

Roy, you're a busy man.

You've taught English and several other subjects for many years and are currently working for the organisation Mary's Meals, a charity that provides meals to some of the world's poorest children, currently serving over 3 million children each school day, a job that takes you into schools in the UK on a regular basis.

As well as this, you're a home educator and an author, having published 12 books, the most recent of which are Jack's Acorn, a children's book about quirky families, curious giants and an amazing pet goose.

and The Garden of Perfect Clarity, a literary novel for adults.

And then really interestingly, was starting to use some of the language she had heard in her own speech as well.

I think storytelling is hugely important.

One of the things, one of the ways in which I describe my work for Mary's Meals is as an itinerant storyteller.

I tell the story of the charity.

So why hasn't the awfully man been invited to the Irish Open? That's coming up in the next few minutes.

Also, what difference can a meal make to a child's future? Well, Mary's Meals is one of the leanest charities operating in the Midlands.

ninety five cents from every euro contributed has made its way directly to the causes supported over recent years and they have a big announcement to make here in athlone in the next few minutes and we stay focused of course on your next job And also, if you're a business owner, where you can find the staff with the right skills, because they may already be under your nose.

It's just a matter of training and developing the people you have.

Let's find out who is a winner in a major charity competition after these.

Let's make somebody very, very happy because there has been a massive prize draw taking place in the Midlands for a fabulous, salubrious garden shed.

All to raise money for a worthy cause in Mary's Meals.

And Paul Galvin is on the board of that charity.

So if

you could tell us a bit more about Mary's Meals as well, Alison.

Sure.

Well, Mary's Meals is a charity who started off in Scotland.

And basically what they do is they provide one meal.

It can be porridge or whatever cereals grown in the country in 18 of the poorest countries in the world.

And what they do is they get volunteers to fundries, but they also get volunteers to build fires and cook the porridge and serve them in schools.

But it brings the children into a school where to get the food because they're starving if they don't have that bowl of porridge they don't get any food they literally have no food that might be the only meal they'll get all that day but then gives them a chance to have an education so they bring them into school so it's focusing mainly on primary stage So Malawi is the biggest area they're working in, but they're in, as I say, if you Google Mary's Meals.org, it's fantastic.