A Dungannon grandmother, who has found community and friendship by volunteering with Mary’s Meals, is calling on more people to sign up and help the charity this Volunteers’ Week (June 1-7).

Margaret Hughes, who volunteers with granddaughter Bobbi, 11, says Mary’s Meals has brought joy back into her life.

Mary’s Meals, founded in a shed in the Scottish Highlands in 2002, provides its school meals to more than three million children in some of the world's poorest communities in 16 countries, including Haiti, Mozambique and Yemen. The promise of a daily meal encourages children into the classroom where they will gain an education and hope for a brighter future.

Margaret first found Mary’s Meals at a difficult time in her life. After her husband of 57 years, Damien, had passed away, Margaret was lost without her soul mate and best friend. She was encouraged by the co-ordinator of the local Mary’s Meals Armagh and Servite Priory Benburb group, Pauline, to come for a coffee and meet some of the volunteering community.

Margaret and her granddaughter Bobbi volunteer for Mary’s Meals to help support vulnerable communities across the world | Supplied

placeholder image — Margaret and her granddaughter Bobbi volunteer for Mary’s Meals to help support vulnerable communities across the world | Supplied

She now volunteers for the charity on a weekly basis at the Mary’s Meals information centre at Benburb Priory, finding friends and a new sense of purpose. Her granddaughter Bobbi, aged 11, also supports the charity and “loves it”, inspired by her gran’s efforts to help children living in some of the world’s poorest communities. The dynamic duo are both dedicated volunteers for Mary’s Meals and are encouraging others to get involved in the charity.

Margaret, who has written a poem about her passion for the charity, says: “I was praying for something to turn up that would give me a purpose and a reason to get out and do something about getting on with the rest of my life.” She adds: “It’s bringing more life and joy back into my being.”

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When discussing the Mary’s Meals Armagh and Benburb volunteer group, Margaret explains: “They're lovely: watching for you coming and they're glad to see you while you're there. We just talk and get on together; it's like a family reunion to be perfectly honest.”

The charity relies on a generous community of volunteers both in the UK and across the world. The food provided in schools is cooked by local community volunteers, who are often relatives of children receiving the meals. One of these volunteers is Stella Chimenya from southern Malawi. She volunteers at Namingwere Primary School, where two of her children attend, and sees first-hand the life changing impact the daily meals make.

She says: “I am very happy to volunteer because I have two children at the school. The school feeding programme is good for families like mine. It helps me feed my children and lessens the burden when my children go to school without eating in the morning.”

To follow in Margaret, Bobbi and Stella’s footsteps and get involved in the Mary’s Meals mission this Volunteers’ Week, people can sign up on the charity’s website.

Volunteering could be the perfect opportunity to make a difference and meet a community of passionate volunteer heroes. From becoming a speaker and sharing the Mary’s Meals story in your local community; helping to organise a fundraising event, to providing general admin support, there are lots of ways to start your volunteering story with Mary’s Meals.