What will next 12 months bring?

As I begin another new year,

I find myself looking forward with excitement for what the next 12 months may bring.

I feel incredibly fortunate to start 2024 filled with optimism for the future.

Sadly, not everyone can start the year with the same hope. Millions of children across the world, often impacted by civil war, natural disasters or drought, won’t even know where their next meal is coming from.

Many years ago, I started giving my support to Mary’s Meals, the international school feeding charity which does incredible work in 18 of the world’s poorest countries by encouraging children into the classroom with the promise of a daily school meal.

Mary’s Meals provide little ones with energy, education and a ladder out of poverty, but also gives them something we often take for granted: hope for a brighter future.

I decided to set up a regular donation to the charity because I wanted to know that each month, I was helping to feed another child at school.

The certainty of a regular gift enables Mary’s Meals to keep the promise to the 2.4 million children they feed every school day, while they strive to reach millions more who remain hungry.

And as your readers begin to take on their New Year’s resolutions, I’d ask them to consider adding another very important one to their list: to give the gift of hope in 2024. A gift of any size makes a huge difference – it costs just 10p to provide a nutritious meal for a hungry child.

If you set up a regular gift to Mary’s Meals before 22 January 2024, then your first two donations will be doubled as part of the charity’s Double The Love appeal.

To change a child’s life and give hope for a brighter future, please visit marysmeals.org.uk.

I wish you all a happy and peaceful New Year.

Ruth Mitchell, Mary’s Meals

supporter