Small changes make a big impact
What will you do to change a life?
Mary’s Meals is a global movement of supporters and volunteers working together to reach the next child waiting for our nutritious school meals. They are people of hope, people like you, each carrying out a little act of love that will help change the life of a hungry child.
There are lots of small ways you can help us keep our promise to the 2.4 million children who eat Mary’s Meals. Read on to discover the small changes you can make that will have a big impact for hungry children around the world.
Share our work on social media
We share the latest updates on our work on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X. If you’re on these platforms too, why not give us a follow? By liking and sharing our posts to your network, you can help us spread the word of Mary’s Meals far and wide!
Donate some of your time
We’re always on the lookout for kind-hearted volunteers to help us with our mission, but we know that not everyone has lots of spare time on their hands. Giving us even just an hour of your time is a small change you can make that will have a big impact.
From distributing materials in your local area, to helping us with administrative support, to giving a talk on our work – gifting a little of your time will help us raise awareness of our mission and reach more hungry children. And charity volunteering is a brilliant way to boost your skills and self-confidence while making new friends along the way! All our volunteers receive training, and we have more than 60 volunteer groups across the UK, open to all, including students and young people.
Find out more about volunteering
Make the most out of your shopping
Did you know you can help us reach more hungry children while you shop – at no extra cost to you? There are a number of ‘cashback’ sites that will make a donation to Mary’s Meals on your behalf every time you make an online purchase. We are registered with Top Cashback, Easy Fundraising and Give As You Live. And did you know, if you sell on eBay, you can donate some of your profits to Mary’s Meals?
Find out more about making the most of your shopping
Save your small change
It only costs 10p per meal to feed a child with Mary’s Meals. That means that your small change will make a huge difference!
Have you heard of round up savings? Some bank accounts will automatically round up debit card purchases and deposit the remaining change into a savings pot. Why not check out whether your bank account offers this tool and save a little as you spend to help us feed hungry children? Or, what about giving up one takeaway coffee a week? The cost of a cappuccino could pay for 35 meals, meaning you can give a whole class of children energy to learn at school for a day.
Set yourself a small active challenge
You don’t have to run a marathon or cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise money for Mary’s Meals. Want to walk 10,000 steps a day? Start running? Brave open water swimming? Why not set yourself a small active challenge and ask your friends and family to sponsor you? Setting up a Facebook fundraiser is a simple way to collect your donations, and you can prove to yourself that you can do something you’ve always wanted to do while helping us reach the next hungry child.
Read more about fundraising for Mary’s Meals
Sign up to Gift Aid
Gift Aid is a simple way to increase the value of your gift to Mary’s Meals, at no extra cost to you. Available to all UK charities, Gift Aid means we can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you donate – making your donations worth 25% more to us. We can claim Gift Aid on your donations if you’re a UK taxpayer. All you need to do is make a Gift Aid declaration.
Claim Gift Aid on your donations
Payroll giving
Payroll giving allows you to make donations directly from your gross pay before tax (but after National Insurance deductions). Payroll donations are taken out of your salary by your employer, as part of the payroll process. This makes it an easy way for you to give, and it means we receive more money at no extra cost to you! For example, with payroll giving, a donation of £19.15 per month – enough to feed a child every school day for a whole year – can cost you as little as £10.53 per month (depending on how much tax you pay).
Find out more about payroll giving
Join our mailing list
Join our mailing list to stay up to date with all things Mary's Meals, from finding out about the impact of our life-changing school meals to getting inspirational fundraising ideas.
