Watch: Coalisland stages film premier about international charity Mary's Meals

Coalisland.

Titled ‘Generation Hope’, the film is an uplifting and compelling documentary highlighting the extraordinary difference that receiving a daily meal in school can make to children growing up in some of the world’s most impoverished communities.

Mary’s Meals is a grass-roots movement with very strong support across Northern Ireland and a large audience attended the premiere event in Coalisland.

Afterwards, supporters across the country will be encouraged to host their own screenings of the film to help raise awareness of the impact of the charity’s work.

Founded in 2002, Mary’s Meals began feeding 200 children in one school in Malawi. Today, the charity reaches more than 1.1 million children with daily meals in schools in 12 different countries around the world.

By serving a daily meal in a place of education, Mary’s Meals attracts impoverished children into the classroom, where they can gain skills that will help them escape poverty in the future. The school feeding programmes are community-owned, with local volunteers working in rotation to prepare the meals for the children.

Mary’s Meals has a dedicated network of supporters across Northern Ireland and a volunteer group in Coalisland will be hosting the Generation Hope premiere this weekend. The Mary’s Meals ‘Meitheal.’

Support Community will welcome guests to the event at the Craic Theatre in Dungannon on Friday evening. The group has been very active in its support for Mary’s Meals, raising a staggering

£19,000 for the charity between October and December last year.

Filmed on location at Mary’s Meals projects in Malawi, Haiti, and India, Generation Hope introduces audiences to individuals from what Mary’s Meals describes as Generation Hope – the group of young people who, having received the organisation’s daily meals in school, are now engaged in further education or paid employment, something they insist would simply not have been possible without the support provided by supporters of Mary’s Meals.