Scarlette and Stuart Douglas Double The Love with Mary’s Meals

Donations made to Mary’s Meals this winter will be matched, up to £1 million

TV stars and siblings, Scarlette and Stuart Douglas, are encouraging people across the UK to support Mary’s Meals’ new appeal, Double The Love.

From 22 November 2023 to 22 January 2024, all donations made to Mary’s Meals will be doubled by a group of generous supporters, up to a total of £1 million. Funds raised will help to provide nutritious school meals for children in some of the world’s poorest countries including Malawi, Haiti and South Sudan.

Popular double act Scarlette and Stuart are celebrating the launch of the campaign, which is a cause close to their hearts. Mary’s Meals currently feeds more than 2.4 million hungry children every school day. The promise of a meal attracts these children into the classroom, so that instead of working or looking for food, they have the energy to learn.

Scarlette, a campmate on the 2022 series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, says: “Stuart and I are so impressed by the incredible work of Mary’s Meals. To serve a daily school meal to 2.4 million children is an amazing feat, as is the fact that Mary’s Meals can feed a child for a whole school year for just £19.15.

“And with Double The Love, £19.15 will feed two children for a school year, so there’s never been a better time to donate!”

Stuart, who hosts Channel 4’s Worst House on the Street with Scarlette, added: “I have four children, so Mary’s Meals’ work resonates greatly with me; no child should go hungry. Mary’s Meals provides a daily school meal alongside an education, which is so important to give children a chance at a brighter future.

“Double The Love gives everyone who donates the opportunity to have their kindness reach even more hungry children with Mary’s Meals, and that’s something we should all get behind!”

Matt Barlow, Executive Director of Mary’s Meals, says: “Scarlette and Stuart know a thing or two about being a great double act, so we’re really grateful to them for backing our Double The Love appeal!

“Mary’s Meals is built on so many little acts of kindness – from those volunteers in our programme countries who rise with the sun to cook and serve Mary’s Meals for their children, to those in the UK who support our work in lots of ways. By donating to Mary’s Meals this winter, your kindness can go even further in helping us to reach the next hungry child waiting for our nutritious school meals.”

Double The Love runs until 22 January 2024. For more information please visit marysmeals.org.uk/double.

Fanta and Jebbah’s story

Like Scarlette and Stuart, Fanta and Jebbah are a great double act.

Fanta, 15, and Jebbah, 14, are best friends who met when they started to attend Quadafi School in Liberia. The girls are in sixth grade and are inseparable both in and outside of school. They dream of becoming doctors and helping people in their community, inspired by their mothers, both of whom are nurses.

Every day, the girls walk for an hour to get to school on an empty stomach. When they arrive, they most often feel tired and sleepy because of the long distance they have walked. But after eating their portion of Mary’s Meals, the girls have the energy to learn and enjoy school with their classmates.

Thanks to Mary’s Meals’ incredible supporters, Fanta and Jebbah are able to gain an education and work toward their dreams of a future where they can help to lift their community out of poverty.