Lucy and Ashleigh jazz up Mary’s Meals
TWO Oban High School pupils have been praised for their ‘exceptional’ help at the Mary’s Meals shop, dressing its window and even teaching staff how to dance the shuffle.
‘They have been an absolute joy,’ the charity shop’s manager, Marie Rowan, said of Lucy Anderson and Ashleigh Ord.
‘They were straight into helping. They are getting great reports from their window. They have taught us how to put stuff together, and bang! it was sold.’
Both pupils, Ashleigh explained, needed to attain 60 hours of ‘community achievement’ as part of a course.
‘They made us feel so welcome,’ she said. ‘We could show our arty side. We are going to carry on as volunteers here after school.’
Marie added: ‘I love the fact they want to carry on and be volunteers for Mary’s Meals. They are just a laugh. They were showing us how to dance. We will teach them the Highland Schottische.’
Long-time volunteer Mary MacInnes added: ‘They teach us and we teach them. We have learned from each other.’
Lucy told us: ‘It is so fun. It is opening my eyes to see what we can do. It is for a good cause. It is feeding lots of children around the world who are less fortunate.’
Donated goods of all kinds come in from all over the West Coast, from strange objects such as a butcher’s chainmail glove to more lucrative items such as a Harry Potter chess set which sold for £350.
The Argyll charity announced last month that, thanks to the continued generosity of its supporters around the world, it is now providing life-changing meals to 1,257,278 of the world’s poorest children.
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and chief executive, said: ‘With 61 million children still out of school and many more too hungry to concentrate on their lessons, our work is only just beginning. Together, our journey continues – one step at a time, one meal at a time, one child at a time.’