determined duo prepares_to_tackle_kilimanjaro
TRANSCRIPT
Determined duo prepares to tackle Kilimanjaro for Mary’s Meals in
brother’s memory
A businessman is preparing to scale the world’s largest free-standing mountain to raise
money for international charity Mary’s Meals, in memory of his brother.
Almost six years ago, Tim Hard’s 21-year-old brother Jon tragically lost his life on a
university skiing trip after becoming disorientated and succumbing to hypothermia.
Before his death in December 2007, Jon, an Oxford University student, had spoken about
his admiration for Mary’s Meals, leading his friends and family to set up a fund for the
charity in his honour. The collection in his name has been open for nearly six years, but still
receives frequent donations from people who miss Jon and remember him fondly.
To date, the fund has allowed Mary’s Meals to build a kitchen for Doroba School in Northern
Malawi as well as covering the cost of providing a daily school meal to all of its 760 pupils
every year since 2008, as part of the charity’s Sponsor A School scheme.
Mary’s Mealssets up school feeding programmes in some of the world’s poorest communities
where hunger and poverty prevent children from gaining an education. The charity currently
feeds over three quarters of a million children in their place of education every school day,
in 16 different countries.
Tim,a director at The Steel Indexwho lives in Singapore with his wife and two-year-old
daughter, is taking on the challenge with his sister-in-law, Katie Roberts, 32, who currently
lives in Dubai. The pair will be meeting in the UAE this week (August 15) before travelling to
Tanzania to begin their 5,895m ascent on Friday(August 16).
Tim, originally from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, said: “I’ve done a bit of walking in the
past and in 2011 I took on the Tough Guy challenge for Mary’s Meals as well.
“My brother really liked Mary’s Meals and after learning about it, I can see why. It’s a lean
charity with minimal waste on administration and I admire that. It’s a simple idea really —
feeding hungry children in school so they are encouraged to gain an education and involving
and empowering communities at the same time.
“Jon really was the epitome of a promising young man taken too soon. If he was still here,
he’d probably be a teacher — and a very good one at that. I'm doing this to raise funds for
the 760 kids at the school who rely on their daily meals. Just £10.60/SGD20.60/AED60
feeds a child a daily meal for a year and keeps them in school. A minor sacrifice — roughly a
packet of cigarettes, or a fancy mojito — makes a massive difference to a young person’s
prospects in Malawi. If you would like to help out, stop bywww.justgiving.com/JonHard.”
The altruistic friends have each taken 12 days off work and are hoping to complete the trek
within a week.
Daniel Adams, Head of Fundraising at Mary’s Meals, said: “We are extremely grateful to
Katie and Tim for helping us to reach more children with Mary’s Meals.
“Our work to feed the world’s poorest children in the most deprived countries every day
they attend school would not be possible without the generosity of our supporters, who hail
from all over the world.
“As a result of the kindness of people like Katie and Tim, the lives of thousands of the
world’s poorest children are being transformed.”
Friends and family inKatie and Tim’s respective hometowns — Widnes in Cheshire and
Leamington Spa in Warwickshire — will be wishing them well from over 6,000 miles away.
Ends
Notes to Editors
Mary’s Meals began in Malawi in 2002 when its founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow met a
young woman called Emma who was dying from AIDS. She was sitting on the mud floor of
her hut surrounded by her children. When Magnus asked her 14-year-old son what his
dreams were in life, his stark reply was: “To have enough food to eat and to go to school
one day”. This was a key part of the inspiration that led to the Mary’s Meals campaign.
www.marysmeals.org.uk | @marysmeals | www.facebook.com/marysmeals
Katie Roberts has also set up a JustGiving page for the event:
http://www.justgiving.com/Katie-Roberts10
For further press enquiries:
Mary’s Meals
Jane Hamilton, Media and Communications Officer
T: 0141 336 7094