Secondary schools in Yorkshire and the Humber can fundraise to feed an entire school of hungry children by signing up for a charity’s life-changing Feed A School initiative.
Mary’s Meals provides meals to more than 3 million children every school day in some of the world’s poorest communities across 16 countries. The promise of a nutritious meal at school attracts these children into the classroom, where they can gain an education that can be their ladder out of poverty. Yet millions of children still miss out on going to school due to hunger.
Through Feed A School, secondary schools can ensure every pupil at a school in Malawi or Zambia receives a nutritious meal every day for a full school year. The initiative is a transformative way to give hundreds of vulnerable children hope for a better future. Providing healthy meals for a whole school has a huge impact not only on the children, but also on their families and the wider community.
Feeding an entire school for a year is more achievable than many realise – with Mary’s Meals, it costs just 10p a day to provide a child with a nutritious school meal. Whether schools choose to fundraise on their own, or join with others in the area, they will develop a real sense of connection to their chosen school and to the children they are helping, with updates from the feeding programme and a final report from the Malawian or Zambian school at the end of the year.
A school’s support can bring hope to more children like Sean, aged 12, from Mbayani Primary School in Malawi. Hunger is a daily struggle for Sean and his classmates, but with Mary’s Meals, they have a chance at a brighter future. He says: “Mostly there is no money, and we don’t eat at home, but I know I will get porridge at school. I am happy at school and I want to be a scientist. Porridge will help me take the next steps.”
Schools that choose to fundraise won’t be doing it alone. Mary’s Meals will be there to support schools throughout their fundraising year – and each participating school will be joining others up and down the country who agree that in this world of plenty, no child should miss school because they are too hungry to learn.
Every year since 2017, pupils at St Andrew’s and St Bride’s High School in East Kilbride have organised a five day ‘porridge pledge’ to raise funds to feed all 288 children at Damu Primary School in Malawi for a full school year with Mary’s Meals. During the pledge, the pupils eat only plain foods, like porridge, rice and toast – sacrificing their favourite foods so their friends at Damu can enjoy school meals for a whole year. In 2025, they surpassed their £5,515.20 target, raising an incredible total of more than £11,000.
Religion Moral Citizenship Education (RMCE) teacher, Jacqueline Nelson, says: “I can honestly say Feed A School with Mary’s Meals is one of the best things that we have ever done in our school. Through Feed A School, we live what we teach – we directly help our global brothers and sisters, those who we will never meet yet still love and it allows us to place the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in the world first. It’s beautiful. It brings true joy.”
Claire Benjamin, Director of Supporter Engagement for Mary’s Meals UK, adds: “Choose to Feed A School and you will make a lasting difference to children, their families and their whole communities. We serve children in schools of many different sizes, which means Feed A School offers a wide range of fundraising targets to suit every school community. Schools can sign up to Feed A School in Malawi or Zambia today and turn a year of school meals into a lifetime of impact.”
Find out more at www.marysmeals.org.uk/feed-a-school