Mary's Meals forced to close down Scots charity shops amid rising costs

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Mary's Meals has been forced to shut down all its charity shops and warehouse after deeming the operation as 'no longer viable'.

The Scots charity, which provides school meals for children in some of the world's poorest countries, said a decline of income and rising operating costs had led them to make the 'difficult decision' to close the stores.

It currently has six shops across Scotland, which are expected to close their doors for good at the end of September. These include stores in:The organisation's warehouse in Glasgow will also be shut down.Mary's Meals grew out of Scottish International Relief, an organisation set up by Scots brothers Magnus and Fergus MacFarlane-Barrow to provide aid during the Bosnian war in 1992.The Mary's Meals campaign was then founded in 2002 and currently feeds more than 2.4 million children every school day across the world.Lat month, the organisation said it was facing 'significant challenges' in delivering its international school feeding programme due to a 20 percent rise in operation costs.In a statement shared to the charity's website, executive director Daniel Adams said: "In recent years there has been a steady decline of income from our shops – while the cost of operating them has continued to increase.

This means that sadly the shops are no longer a viable source of income."We are so grateful for the dedication of our shop and warehouse staff and volunteers to growing Mary’s Meals within their local communities.