MARTHA Payne’s NeverSeconds blog – in which she posts pictures and opinions about the state of her school lunches – has received over six million views and won the support of celebrity chefs including Nick Nairn.
But last week the nine-year-old was controversially told by Argyll and Bute Council she could no longer take photos to illustrate her blog as media coverage had apparently left catering staff fearing for their jobs.
The council has since back-tracked on its decision after a barrage of negative publicity in the media and on social networking sites.
The ban led to thousands of donations flooding in to Martha’s JustGiving site, which she set up to raise money for charity Mary’s Meals.
This Scottish charity runs school feeding projects in communities around the world where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education.
Martha far surpassed her £7,000 fundraising target, with the total rocketing from £3,000 to almost £85,000 in just four days.
It means a kitchen will be built at Lirangwe primary school in Blantyre, Malawi, and all 1,963 of its pupils will be fed for a whole year, as part of the charity’s Sponsor a School initiative.
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