A SALTCOATS grandfather who has dedicated the last 15 years of his life to charity work has been thanked by some of the world’s poorest children who receive Mary’s Meals.

Michael Smith, 68, first started volunteering in the 1990s when he helped to organise donations of clothes, blankets, toiletries and medical supplies to war-torn regions in Eastern Europe.

The retired firefighter had initially seen a newspaper advert calling for volunteers to support the relief efforts by charitable organisation Scottish International Relief (SIR) — now registered as Mary’s Meals.

Michael said: “I’d had to retire from the Fire Service on health grounds and I was still coming to terms with the fact I’d had to stop working.

“I was beginning to feel sorry for myself and doing too much sitting around, but I saw the advert at exactly the right time — I needed to get out and find something new to put my effort into.” He added: “There was a lot to be done. I remember we sent 50 lorry-loads to Eastern Europe in just nine weeks, so the place was non-stop getting everything organised and packed.” In 2002, in response to a famine in Malawi, SIR began providing a daily meal to 200 children in school to alleviate hunger and promote education.

Today, the charity works under the name Mary’s Meals and its focus is to set up school feeding projects in some of the world’s poorest countries where poverty and hunger prevent children from getting an education. Mary’s Meals currently provides a nutritious daily meal to over 868,000 children every school day, across five continents.

As the charity has evolved, so have Michael’s roles.

For a while, he stepped in as a driver, delivering stock to the Mary’s Meals charity shops around Scotland and travelling further afield, all over Britain, picking up donations of backpacks which are shipped to children receiving a daily meal.

These days, Michael takes charge of clothing donations for children receiving support from Mary’s Meals in Under Six education centres in Malawi.

With five grandchildren of his own, Michael is a dab hand at sorting through generously donated items and finding the best places for them to be sent.

He hopes to continue helping for many more years to come.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and chief executive of Mary’s Meals said: “It’s because of the dedication and devotion of people like Michael — who give up their time to make others’ lives better — that Mary’s Meals is able to support the world’s poorest communities at such a low cost.

“Our commitment to spending at least 93p of every £1 donated directly on our charitable activities would be impossible to uphold without the generosity of so many people, all over the world, who dedicate their valuable time to this work.

“Mary’s Meals reaches 868,746 children with a daily meal in school, but there are still over 57 million children out of school because of poverty.

"Our supporters and volunteers are determined to change this, always striving to help us reach the next child waiting for Mary’s Meals.” In recognition of his dedication, Michael has received a handmade card made by children receiving Mary’s Meals in Haiti, which reads ‘Thank you Michael, you are so dear to us’ beside drawings of hot meals.

The enthusiastic volunteer has also been presented with a hand-carved commemorative miniature chair made by another long-standing Mary’s Meals supporter John McLaughlin from Bishopton in Renfrewshire.

Michael said: “It’s been a pleasure to be involved with Mary’s Meals for so long and see the charity grow and progress as well as the number of children attending school go up and up because of this work.

“I just love being able to help.

"When you see photos and videos coming back from the school feeding programmes, showing what the children can achieve with a good meal in their tummies, it’s clear to see the joy Mary’s Meals brings which simply allow children to get an education.” If you would like to find out more about how you can help Mary’s Meals feed more children by donating your time, please email volunteer@marysmeals.org or call 0141 336 7094.