Mary’s Meals 2025 – our year in review
A few of the standout moments and milestones that we celebrated this year
It’s been another amazing year for the Mary’s Meals family, and I would like to say a heartfelt “thank you” for your continued support of our work. Your donations make such an enormous difference to the children we serve across the globe.
It’s also been an incredible year for my own personal journey at Mary’s Meals. Since August 2024, I’ve had the privilege of leading the growth efforts at Mary’s Meals – and am very fortunate to have experienced the joy of not only reaching the next child, but now more than 3 million children every school day.
The charity sector is currently experiencing significant challenges. Funding cuts, economic squeeze, conflict and global turmoil make our efforts to go further that much harder. For Mary’s Meals to still be doing more in this context is testament to the efforts of our supporters, your generosity and belief in the importance of what we do, which is guided by such strong stewardship, sense of service and a simple, compelling message. It’s truly wonderful to be a part of.
Reaching 3 million children
In September 2025, we announced that Mary’s Meals is now reaching more than 3 million children with a nutritious meal in their place of education every school day. This is a truly remarkable achievement and one that all of us at Mary’s Meals are extremely proud of. This milestone came through a significant expansion of our school feeding programmes across nine countries that saw hundreds of thousands more children receiving daily school meals, including in Malawi, Haiti, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.
While we are driven by our passion to reach more children, we know that it’s the need of the individual child that we must never lose sight of. Children like four-year-old Noku from Zimbabwe. As well as being unable to walk, Noku was non-verbal, unable to feed herself and seriously malnourished. Despite these challenges, she started receiving Mary’s Meals at Libeni Primary School, where a nutritious mug of porridge helped her to grow stronger day by day. Noku is now healthy, full of life and she walks to school.
From Rome to Sarasota
In February, Magnus gave a speech about the challenge of eradicating child hunger at the prestigious World Leaders Summit at the Vatican, organised by His Holiness Pope Francis and attended by a select group of world and humanitarian leaders, including former US Vice President Al Gore and Rania Al-Abdullah, Queen of Jordan. Addressing the audience, Magnus said: “We in this room could make it happen.” Magnus spent the day discussing a child’s right to education, healthcare, food, nutrition and play. We’ve taken inspiration from what we heard in Rome, and we’re encouraged by the platform this has given us to raise more awareness of Mary’s Meals.
In April, our new documentary, On the Frontlines of Hunger, was screened at the Sarasota Film Festival in Florida. Featuring an exclusive interview with musician and activist Sir Bob Geldof, the film highlights how emergency levels of hunger are threatening the population in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and emphasises the unwavering resilience of the Ethiopian people amidst a humanitarian crisis. The film has subsequently toured the United States, where it has raised more than $400,000 to provide meals for the children we serve. We’re delighted that this also coincided with expansion in that part of Ethiopia, where we’re now reaching more children than ever before.
The dedication of our fundraisers
Fundraising is one of the vital sparks that keeps Mary’s Meals’ light shining – and I am always inspired by the dedication of our fundraisers to help us reach the next child waiting. I’d like to celebrate two of the many fundraising efforts that took place this year across the global Mary’s Meals family.
In March, Luigi Farroni set out on a 3,000-kilometre pilgrimage on foot through four European countries – Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal – with a powerful message to help us feed 3 million children every school day. After almost four months of walking – 116 days, 4,000 kilometres and over five million steps – Luigi arrived at the pilgrimage site of Fatima in Portugal on 19 July, completing his epic “Walk of Hope”.
In August, as part of Mary’s Meals Ireland’s 20th anniversary celebrations, supporters from all over Ireland walked more than 200km to the Marian shrine in the village of Knock, County Mayo, to raise money for Mary’s Meals. This year, our walkers started from across Ireland, arriving in Knock on 15 August. And they raised an incredible €282,000, which will enable us to feed more than 12,800 children for an entire school year.
Give hope this Christmas
As 2025 draws to a close, we’re urging our friends and followers to support our Christmas campaign. For less than £20, you can give a child the gift of daily meals for an entire school year. This is more than just a donation, it’s a promise that a child can eat every day for the school year, giving them, their families and their local community hope of a brighter future.
Finally, I’d like to personally thank all those who have already played a part in our vital work this year. We are hopeful for so many things at Mary’s Meals, but most of all, we are hopeful for the futures of the children we serve – that they can grow up educated and healthy, fulfil their potential and be equipped to support their families in the ongoing fight against poverty and hunger.
Give a child the gift of daily meals for an entire school year for less than £20 this Christmas.
Cheryl McGechie is our Chief Growth Officer. She is responsible for developing and implementing the organisation’s transformational growth strategy.