Your HELP has saved so many lives
Mary’s Meals UK boss Daniel Adams – a former My Weekly writer – tells us what the Helping Hand Appeal means to him
Daniel Adams, Mary’s Meals Executive Director, UK, was vaguely aware of the charity before he started working there, but it was only through his work as a journalist for My Weekly that he began to fully understand the importance of the work carried out of the organisation.
For Daniel, it was a life-changing moment. In 2011 he had been tasked with interviewing Mary’s Meals founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow as part of the Helping Hand Appeal, but while his job for the day was to get a few quotes, he came away with something entirely unexpected – a whole new sense of purpose. “As soon as I spoke to Magnus, everything changed. As a journalist you interview someone, write it up then move on, but everything he said just stuck with me. There was pull. I knew this was something I wanted to be part of. When the opportunity to be press officer for Mary’s Meals came up, I jumped at it. It was no small feat for me to apply for a job at their HQ in Glasgow. I’m quite a homebody and it had to be very important for me to move.”
From press officer, Daniel quickly climbed the ladder to become head of fundraising in the UK to global director of communications and fundraising for Mary’s Meals, before settling into his current role. Over the years the charity has grown to the point it is now – 1.3 million children fed in some of the world’s poorest countries every day – but for Daniel, the only statistic that truly matters is 1 – and that 1 is the next child who will receive Mary’s Meals food.
“This doesn’t feel like a job,” he continued. “It’s really vocational. I feel like this is where I am meant to be. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to travel the world to see the projects first hand. For me it’s a two-pronged thing.
“On the one hand there is huge joy in seeing happy faces and children well fed. Despite the hardship there is a feeling of real happiness where we feed. However, there is also great sadness. These are people who are going through incredibly difficult situations. I remember seeing a girl and thinking she was about 7 – in actual fact she was 14, but she was so small as a result of hunger and illness.
“She was about to start school. I kept in touch with this wee girl’s story and I found out she had passed away. It was just so sad and I often think about her. No matter how many people we help, there’s always that next child who is hungry. That next child who needs help.”
For Daniel, My Weekly’s Helping Hand Appeal is something very close to his heart, having started out as a journalist on the magazine. “For me personally, the Helping Hand Appeal has led me to where I am now, so for that I am hugely grateful. More generally, the support we have had from My Weekly readers over the years is truly incredible.
“It’s our longest-standing media partnership and it is one that is so valuable to us. My Weekly readers have made such a difference over the years. The money they have raised has saved so many lives.”
“My Weekly readers have made a huge difference over the years”