​Charity has enjoyed remarkable success, underpinned by generous Scots

Mary’s Meals has launched its first supporter-led match-funding campaign backed by a pledge of nearly £2 million.

All donations received in response to the Double The Love campaign will be doubled to a total of £1.9 million, in partnership with a group of three funders.

The fundraiser aims to build on the Scottish charity’s school feeding programmes, which currently reach more than 1.2 million chronically hungry children across four continents.

The match-funding opportunity rounds off a remarkable year in which the charity has expanded into Ethiopia and Syria, to help long-suffering children rebuild their lives; as well as responding to the East Africa crisis by reaching more children with school meals in South Sudan, where parts of the country had been classified as in famine.

Daniel Adams, executive director of Mary’s Meals, said: “As a result of the good deeds of our many, many supporters, thousands of children – who would otherwise be working or begging for their next meal – are instead sitting in classrooms with full stomachs, learning how to read and write.”

Mary’s Meals spends 93p in every £1 directly on charitable activities while a donation of just £13.90 can feed a child in school for a year. With match-funding, the same donation will now feed two children for a whole school year.

Adams added: “Our supporters are at the very heart of this campaign, driven by the shared belief that every child in this world of plenty should receive a meal in school each day."