Small Scottish charity could make big difference to African poverty, says Dragons' Den star Duncan Bannatyne

from the Daily Record

By Samantha Booth

DRAGONS' Den Scot Duncan Bannatyne reckons a small Scots charity holds the key to solving African poverty.

Mary's Meals, which is run from a wooden hut in the Argyll countryside, offers children a meal a day in return for school attendance.

But the scheme has proved such a success since its inception five years ago, that they now feed more than 300,000 children around the world. And entrepreneur Duncan, who is worth more than £300million, believes it could be the answer to Africa's problems.

"Mary's Meals is one of the most fantastic things that has happened in this world for a long time," he said. "It could actually bring Africa out of poverty.

"It is such a simple concept but when I first went to Malawi to see what Mary's Meals do, I could see how well the system worked.

"Getting children fed is the most important thing, but education comes a close second.

"I knew I wanted to help in some way and as soon as I saw what the project was about, I knew that was the one for me.

"I know that the majority of the money is actually going to feed children and as an entrepreneur, I like to see the tangible evidence of where the money is going."

Dad-of-six Duncan, who has set-up his own charity called the Bannatyne Charitable Foundation through which he conduits money to Mary's Meals, supports four schools in Malawi and feeds about 20,000 children every day.

"It works so well that the problem we have is that we have too many children turning up," said Duncan. "We need bigger schools, more teachers and more food.

"When I first went to Malawi the level of poverty shocked me.

People were living in mud huts with nothing to their name. I remember one wee girl who, at just 13, cared for her two younger sisters.

"Their parents were dead and they had nothing but the clothes on their backs. But every day she walked her sisters three miles to school so they could get a meal.

"I remember thinking that if something terrible happened to them and they vanished off the face of the planet, nobody would care.

"They are the kind of people Mary's Meals makes a difference to."

Duncan now travels routinely to Malawi to see just what an impact Mary's Meals has.

And never has he been more aware of the benefits of the scheme than when he travelled there recently to make a documentary for BBC2, due to be shown next month, about how tobacco companies target young children in Africa's poorest nations.

He said: "I was horrified by what I saw. In one school I visited, more than half a class of 11 to 13-year-olds admitted to smoking.

"In Mary's Meals schools, none of the children smoke."

Duncan, who is well-known to be antismoking, was delighted to be asked to front the documentary on how the tobacco companies operate in Africa.

A leading doctor from the World Health Authority predicts that in just eight years' time, more people in Africa will die of smoking-related illnesses than of malaria. Yet tobacco companies seem to be targeting the continent's young children.

Duncan said: "It needs to be stopped. Children out there can buy cigarettes for about one pence.

"The tobacco companies say they haven't deliberately moved in, but I think that's nonsense.

"It also horrified me that the warning on the cigarette packets in Malawi is barely readable. People have no idea what tobacco does to them."

Duncan also travelled to Nigeria and Mauritius to make the documentary.

The poverty levels in Mauritius, a wellknown paradise holiday destination, particularly surprised him.

"There are amazing tourist beaches, but there are incredibly poor areas as well," he said. "Children fall out of school which means they don't learn English. This means they can't get a job in the tourist industry or read the warnings on cigarette packs.

"Children as young as 12 get into prostitution as a way of earning a living and buying cigarettes. And while I know there is no proof, I believe there are worse chemicals in the cigarettes they sell there than there are in the ones you can buy in the UK.

"What I do know is that companies that sell cigarettes with 10mg of tar in them in the UK, sell the same cigarettes with 15mg over in Mauritius."

Duncan got involved with Mary's Meals, which is part of Scottish International Relief, when he met founder Magnus McFarlane-Barrow in Romania a few years ago.

Magnus was in Romania to build an orphanage and Duncan was so impressed, hetold Magnus he would give him the money he needed.

Duncan said: "I had been travelling through Romania and had seen the problems, the children tied to hospital beds and the like.

"But I was impressed by the work Magnus was doing, so I have been supporting his projects ever since."

Duncan might now be one of Scotland's wealthiest men, but he was born into a poverty-stricken family and made his wealth through initially selling ice-creams and then by opening a chain of hotels and health clubs.

He has made it clear that he is not leaving all his cash to his children and intends to do as much charity work as possible before he dies.

He said: "I only became wealthy when I floated on the stock exchange in 1992. Since then I have given away somewhere between two and three million pounds to charity.

"When Magnus asked me to help with Mary's Meals, I just couldn't say no."

The idea for Mary's Meals came to Magnus just six years ago when he was visiting Malawi.

He was visiting a mum-of-six who had AIDS and only had weeks left to live. As she lay with her children around her, she told Magnus all she could do now was pray that someone would look after her children.

Magnus asked the oldest boy what he wanted out of life and his answer was simple - "food and the chance to go to school".

To make a donation to Mary's Meals call 0800 6981212 or click on www.marysmeals.org