Over 500 hungry children supported by Around Noon’s team’s donation

(L-R) Emma Donnelly, Aaron O’Connor, Tracey Rice, Sharon Loughran, Breda Rice, Gillian Magowan, Andrea Magill and Steve Fogo.

Money raised by team members at Newry headquartered Around Noon will feed 522 hungry children in schools for a year through the company's support for the charity Mary's Meals.

Mary’s Meals, which was founded in 2002, currently feeds over 2.4 million children every school day. They work in over 18 countries, reaching some of the poorest and most challenging parts of the world, where hunger and poverty often prevent children from attending school.

Over the past year, Around Noon held a number of fundraising events and initiatives in aid of the charity, both in the office and within the local community, including street collections in Newry, getting creative with fun activities in the office and bingo nights with colleagues, friends and family.

As a result, Around Noon have raised an incredible £10,000 for Mary's Meals. It costs £19.15 to feed one child, meaning this donation will feed 522 children every day in school for a whole year.

(L-R) Sharon Loughran, Mary’s Meals Volunteer, with Andrea Magill, Breda Rice and Tracey Rice, from Around Noon.

This donation will go even further to helping many more children to eat at school as it has been uplifted as part of Mary’s Meals’ Double the Love campaign which doubled donations up to £1.1 million from the 22nd of November 2023 to the 31st of January 2024, totalling £20,000 for the charity.

Caoimhe McCann from Mary’s Meals commented, “Our vision at Mary’s Meals is that every child receives one daily meal in school and this generous donation from Around Noon puts us a huge step closer to this goal.

“The money raised enables us to provide school meals to over 500 children for a whole year, making a huge difference to the lives of these children, who by receiving a meal every day have the chance to grow up well-nourished and well-educated, and giving them hope for the future.

“I want to extend a huge thank you to all at Around Noon on behalf of everyone at Mary’s Meals and the children who will no longer be hungry at school thanks to their fundraising efforts.”

Emma Donnelly, Marketing Manager at Around Noon commented, “Our whole team here at Around Noon has thoroughly enjoyed supporting Mary’s Meals this past year. I’m very proud of our team and the work and dedication they have shown to fundraising for this deserving charity. I also want to thank all our friends, families and those in the Newry community who helped us fundraise.

“It’s amazing to be able to help over 500 children, seeing the positive impact our donation, which has been elevated thanks to the charity’s ‘Double the Love’ campaign, will make to so many young lives.