Latest news with #MagnusMacFarlane-Barrow
Daily Record
01-05-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Scots charity chief 'inspired' by Pope Francis's dedication to children in poverty
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow met the late pontiff just weeks before he died and said the religious leader was an inspiration. A CHARITY boss who met Pope Francis just weeks before his death has praised the pontiff for his dedication to children in poverty. Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder of Scottish charity Mary's Meals, said the Catholic leader was an 'incredibly warm man' and a 'challenging Pope '. During a trip to Rome in February MacFarlane-Barrow attended the Vatican World Leaders Summit on Children's Rights where he met the Pope for the last time. He said: 'There were about 40 people in the room, it was a whole day event and he came round and greeted every person in the room even though he was clearly struggling with his health at that time. ' He was in a wheelchair and had difficulty breathing. He surprised us as I thought he would give an opening speech and then leave us to it but he stayed for most of the day. 'It was a consistent thing through his whole pontificate. He was very passionate about children and about the poorest people in the world and wanted to be part of that conversation we were all having.' On another occasion the Pope encouraged the charity chief to 'keep going forward' with his charity, which feeds hundreds of thousands of children in some of the poorest countries every day. MacFarlane-Barrow said: 'Not long after he was made Pope I met him for the first time. He was a really warm man with this incredible way of encouraging people. 'He told me to 'just keep going', he kept telling me to 'go forward'. 'I think he was an incredibly challenging Pope. I felt very challenged by him personally, in a good way. 'He really gave us all a good shake and reminded us that if we claim to be Christian it can't just be words. It needs to be actions and the way we live our lives.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Glasgow Times
22-04-2025
- General
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow charity boss who met Pope pays emotional tribute
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, CEO and founder of Mary's Meals, which is based in Kinning Park, attended the Children's Rights Summit in the Vatican on February 3. Magnus said: 'Even when I saw him, at what turned out to be his last major meeting, he was clearly coping with health issues and he was struggling to breathe. "But that didn't stop him passionately telling all of us that 'nothing is more important than the life of a child.' 'Even in his suffering he insisted on staying with us for most of that day, an intense working session, and he made sure too, that he didn't leave any of us without a personal warm greeting and a smile that somehow – on every occasion I met him – left me with a deep new feeling of hope and courage.' Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow (Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest) Mary's Meals grew out of a charity called Scottish International Relief (SIR), which was set up after Magnus and his brother Fergus took aid from their home in Scotland to Bosnia-Herzegovina during the conflict in 1992. It now feeds millions of children in some of the world's poorest countries, by providing a hot school meal each day. READ NEXT: 'Heart of the Castlemilk community': Glasgow pitches re-open after £1.2m boost READ NEXT: 'We are broken': Outpouring of grief after 'inspirational' young worker dies Magnus added: 'It was a fitting last meeting, I suppose – a continuation of what he said at the start of his pontificate, in 2013, speaking on behalf of 'all those who suffer because of the scandal of hunger', reminding the world that we are 'in front of a global scandal of around one billion people who still suffer from hunger today. "'We cannot look the other way and pretend this does not exist. The food available in the world is enough to feed everyone.'' Magnus said the Pope's words and actions 'have been a source of great encouragement to all of us working to eradicate hunger – and we need to let them inspire us to action now more than ever.' He added: 'As we mourn him, let's celebrate his life and honour his memory by continuing to lift our voices in an unending roar on behalf of every neglected, ignored and hungry child in this world. "And let us pray, as Pope Francis taught us, asking God to give us the grace to envisage a world in which no one must ever again die of hunger.'
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Children in Southern Africa ‘on brink of disaster' after worst drought in 100 years
Children in Southern Africa are going hungry following the region's worst drought in 100 years, as a charity leader warns they are 'desperate' for support. The El Niño weather cycle, which can cause extremes of both drought and wet weather, has had a devastating effect on crop planting and harvesting over the last three years. It's estimated 21 million children in the region are suffering from malnutrition and harvests in 2025 again look set to be poor. In October 2024, a third successive seasonal planting window was disrupted by unusually high temperatures and lack of rain. The majority of the rural population across Southern Africa survives on subsistence agriculture and for farmers working their own smallholdings, the climatic conditions have been catastrophic. Not only have their crops failed to thrive leaving little to harvest, but food has become scarce and more expensive - the cost of maize and cooking oil has doubled in the last year. The challenges facing farmers go beyond poor harvests and rising food costs too. In Malawi, the cost of fertiliser has risen by approximately 64% since 2023 making it impossible for many families to afford. Given the 2024 sowing conditions, the next harvest season in April and May this year is also likely to be meagre. Six countries have already declared a state of disaster. Following a visit to Malawi last month, Mary's Meals Founder and CEO Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow has sounded the alarm that children are on the 'brink of disaster' as he calls for urgent help to expand school feeding programmes in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which can prove to be a lifeline in desperate times like this. Mary's Meals provides daily meals to more than 2.4 million children in 16 of the world's poorest countries, attracting them into the classroom, where they can gain an education and hope of a brighter future. Malawi is home to Mary's Meals' largest school feeding programme, serving more than 1 million children every school day. Magnus says: 'I visited Tafika Primary School in Malawi to see the extent of the situation. We started feeding in this school in October 2024 and everyone we met, children and adults, told us what a lifeline the Mary's Meals porridge is to them at this time. 'Most children are eating just this one meal a day as food is so scarce and expensive. This is largely a subsistence economy and the recent poor harvests have led them to the brink of disaster. We are desperate to roll out our simple school feeding programme to reach more children as soon as we have funds. 'The hunger situation is extreme here but, with Mary's Meals, children's need for food is being met while their potential for learning is unlocked. The food they receive now will help them, in time, to play their part in figuring out what and when to plant to feed themselves, and their families, while consistent education can be a ladder out of poverty and provide hope for a brighter future.' Desire, aged 12, is the youngest of four siblings and a student at Tafika Primary School, which is a 6km walk away from his home. His mother sells small fish which she gets from a trader on the river. Desire tries to help her and sometimes gets to eat the fish too. But finding food is hard and he often sleeps on an empty stomach. Desire says: 'I feel weak and pain in my body when I don't eat. When there was no food at school, I would be shivering and tired. 'I would shiver and shake so I couldn't hold my pen and it was difficult to concentrate. Sometimes I would have to leave school to go and try to find food.' Desire still regularly falls asleep without having had any dinner, but since the arrival of Mary's Meals at Tafika in October, he receives a nutritious meal in school, ensuring he is fed during the day, which provides immediate relief to him and his mother. Meanwhile he is gaining a vital education in class. He says: 'I like the porridge, it helps me concentrate.' Agness Wakili, the head teacher at Tafika Primary, has witnessed the devastation the drought has had on her pupils, their families and the whole community. She's aware that despite their efforts, crops won't grow in the current climate, and the agony will continue. Agness says: 'Each and every family in our district suffers from hunger. 'The harvest will be very poor because of the drought. The maize is stunted and won't mature properly. People had to plant again in December because the rain didn't come, but still the crops haven't grown as they should. 'People don't eat at home because there is nothing to eat. Even the adults are starving.' Yet, as the drought continues to cripple millions in Malawi and across Southern Africa, for some, there is hope, provided by Mary's Meals porridge. Agness continues: 'We have seen an increase in enrolment because of the porridge. All the children around here are malnourished and very hungry but now since the porridge, they are not so sick. 'The learners come for something to eat and then they are able to learn. We depend on the porridge.'
The Independent
14-02-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Children in Southern Africa ‘on brink of disaster' after worst drought in 100 years
Children in Southern Africa are going hungry following the region's worst drought in 100 years, as a charity leader warns they are 'desperate' for support. The El Niño weather cycle, which can cause extremes of both drought and wet weather, has had a devastating effect on crop planting and harvesting over the last three years. It's estimated 21 million children in the region are suffering from malnutrition and harvests in 2025 again look set to be poor. In October 2024, a third successive seasonal planting window was disrupted by unusually high temperatures and lack of rain. The majority of the rural population across Southern Africa survives on subsistence agriculture and for farmers working their own smallholdings, the climatic conditions have been catastrophic. Not only have their crops failed to thrive leaving little to harvest, but food has become scarce and more expensive - the cost of maize and cooking oil has doubled in the last year. The challenges facing farmers go beyond poor harvests and rising food costs too. In Malawi, the cost of fertiliser has risen by approximately 64% since 2023 making it impossible for many families to afford. Given the 2024 sowing conditions, the next harvest season in April and May this year is also likely to be meagre. Six countries have already declared a state of disaster. Following a visit to Malawi last month, Mary's Meals Founder and CEO Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow has sounded the alarm that children are on the 'brink of disaster' as he calls for urgent help to expand school feeding programmes in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which can prove to be a lifeline in desperate times like this. Mary's Meals provides daily meals to more than 2.4 million children in 16 of the world's poorest countries, attracting them into the classroom, where they can gain an education and hope of a brighter future. Malawi is home to Mary's Meals' largest school feeding programme, serving more than 1 million children every school day. Magnus says: 'I visited Tafika Primary School in Malawi to see the extent of the situation. We started feeding in this school in October 2024 and everyone we met, children and adults, told us what a lifeline the Mary's Meals porridge is to them at this time. 'Most children are eating just this one meal a day as food is so scarce and expensive. This is largely a subsistence economy and the recent poor harvests have led them to the brink of disaster. We are desperate to roll out our simple school feeding programme to reach more children as soon as we have funds. 'The hunger situation is extreme here but, with Mary's Meals, children's need for food is being met while their potential for learning is unlocked. The food they receive now will help them, in time, to play their part in figuring out what and when to plant to feed themselves, and their families, while consistent education can be a ladder out of poverty and provide hope for a brighter future.' Desire, aged 12, is the youngest of four siblings and a student at Tafika Primary School, which is a 6km walk away from his home. His mother sells small fish which she gets from a trader on the river. Desire tries to help her and sometimes gets to eat the fish too. But finding food is hard and he often sleeps on an empty stomach. Desire says: 'I feel weak and pain in my body when I don't eat. When there was no food at school, I would be shivering and tired. 'I would shiver and shake so I couldn't hold my pen and it was difficult to concentrate. Sometimes I would have to leave school to go and try to find food.' Desire still regularly falls asleep without having had any dinner, but since the arrival of Mary's Meals at Tafika in October, he receives a nutritious meal in school, ensuring he is fed during the day, which provides immediate relief to him and his mother. Meanwhile he is gaining a vital education in class. He says: 'I like the porridge, it helps me concentrate.' Agness Wakili, the head teacher at Tafika Primary, has witnessed the devastation the drought has had on her pupils, their families and the whole community. She's aware that despite their efforts, crops won't grow in the current climate, and the agony will continue. Agness says: 'Each and every family in our district suffers from hunger. 'The harvest will be very poor because of the drought. The maize is stunted and won't mature properly. People had to plant again in December because the rain didn't come, but still the crops haven't grown as they should. 'People don't eat at home because there is nothing to eat. Even the adults are starving.' Yet, as the drought continues to cripple millions in Malawi and across Southern Africa, for some, there is hope, provided by Mary's Meals porridge. Agness continues: 'We have seen an increase in enrolment because of the porridge. All the children around here are malnourished and very hungry but now since the porridge, they are not so sick. 'The learners come for something to eat and then they are able to learn. We depend on the porridge.'
