because it’s only
4p to give a child a
meal, a daily meal,
which is crazy. You
could find that on
the floor on the
way back from
school
Charlie adds: “This means one day they
may break out of poverty and possibly
become a pilot, the president of their
country, a lawyer, whatever they want to
be, and so it’s such an amazing cause
because it’s so simple. There is such
starvation and they have to walk miles
just to get to school to receive their daily
meal and these children are in such bad
condition.
“I was lucky enough to see this firsthand early this year in January for my
birthday, and they’re so poor and they
should, in theory, be sad because they
have so little but they’re so happy and
I love the message of hope that Mary’s
Meals gives these children. It is so nice
to see them so happy just with this
simple daily meal. They have nothing at
all compared to what loads of children
in this country have and it’s just crazy
that they’re so happy with such little.”
Charlie has fundraised relentlessly since
his early childhood and he continues
to raise thousands and thousands of
pounds.
What began with giving up his birthday
presents soon turned into sales such
as vegetables, car boots, car washes
but now Charlie has moved on to even
bigger challenges to raise the muchneeded money.
He has taken part in the Brighton
Marathon for the past few years together
with friends or anyone who wants to
raise money for Mary’s Meals and
another local charity. Charlie has also
climbed Mount Snowdon in winds of
60mph, ice, no map and no compass
with his mum, brother and friend.
Despite being advised not to climb,
they went ahead anyway and made it,
successfully raising even more money
for charity.
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Charlie said: “At the top of Snowdon I
actually received tickets to go to Malawi
as an early Christmas present from my
mum and my family and a neighbour
as well, which was amazing. To be
at the top of Snowdon and to receive
those, well, I was speechless - not
only because it was freezing cold and
I couldn’t move my mouth but it was
an amazing experience to complete a
challenge and then to be told that the
children that I’d completed a challenge
for that we would meet them.
“So for my birthday I went to Malawi for a
two week holiday with just my mum and
on my actual birthday, I saw my kitchen
and travelled around the whole of Malawi
and did lots of things from the backpack
project and actually saw loads and loads
of different things and all the work that
Mary’s Meals does.”
The charity’s Backpack Project appeals
to schools, clubs and other groups
to fill unwanted backpacks with basic
educational materials to send to children
receiving Mary’s Meals.
Charlie added: “On my birthday I got to
see my kitchen in Malawi and the work
that Mary’s Meals does and because all
the kids knew that I was the one with my
name on the kitchen because I sponsor
it and they knew that I was the one,
(obviously with the help of everybody
else because without them it wouldn’t
be possible), that supplied their food for
them. So they were all so grateful. They
did drama, singing, dancing, all for me
and they were all gathered round just
to get a view of me. They were climbing
out of the big trees and they were all sat
round and I gave them a few gifts and
they gave me a lovely woven rug.”
Charlie’s most recent adventure was an
extraordinary challenge which involved
cycling 1,250 miles from Holland to
Poland. He led a team of fundraisers
from Amsterdam to the city of Krakow
in August this year. As if the cycling
wasn’t enough, Charlie, his mum, his
uncle Bunny, 14-year-old friend Ania
Jasko and her mum Maja, even slept in
people’s gardens and garages along the
way to keep down costs and raise as
much money as possible.