A VOLUNTEER at Mary’s Meals in Troon says the experience she has had with charity has been life changing.

Sheila Smith, from Troon, has been volunteering with the charity for over 15 years, and was even part of it before it was in its current format.

Mary’s Meals reaches more than 1.8 million hungry children in the world’s poorest countries with a daily meal at school.

Sheila has seen for herself how much the charity helps people right across the world and she wants to encourage others to give it a go.

She said: “I have loved every minute of my time volunteering with Mary’s Meals and I couldn’t recommend getting involved enough.

“The experience has helped me see how fortunate I am when you see how grateful all these people across the world are, even with the minimum.

“One of the main things I like about the charity is that a minimum of 93 per cent of funds go towards the charitable causes, so people are getting as much benefit as possible”.

Sheila’s views were enhanced when she asked along on a trip to Malawi in 2017.

Seeing something similar to the work that goes on at Mary’s Meals made Sheila realise how fortunate she was.

She added: “I was lucky enough to go along on the trip to Malawi and I can’t believe the effect it had on me.

“To actually see how happy and positive these people are is something that will stay with me.

“Now that I’ve seen that, it makes me even more

determined to make sure the hard work at Mary’s Meals continues to help as many people as it can across the world.

“I really would encourage people to give it a try.”

The charity’s work is only possible with the support it receives from its volunteers, both in the UK and in the countries where it serves meals to hungry children.

Valerie Foy, manager at the Mary’s Meals shop in Troon, said: “We couldn’t run any of our Mary’s Meals charity shops without our team of loyal volunteers.

“If you can spare a few hours a week or more, we would love to hear from you.

“Being a shop volunteer is a great opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people and join our passionate family of volunteers to reach more hungry children.”

People wishing to donate items are being asked to contact the Mary’s Meals shop directly to arrange a date and time to drop off their donation. 

If you’d like to find out more about volunteering at the Mary’s Meals shop in Troon, you can call Valerie on 01292 679260.