A series of sponsored walks will take place across County Tyrone this summer to raise money for the charity Mary's Meals.

The Tyrone legs begin on Tuesday, July 28, starting at the Cornmill in Coalisland at 7pm and concluding in Dungannon Square around 8.30pm. A second walk from Dungannon to Moy takes place on the evening of Friday, July 31. The final local stage on Saturday, August 1, runs from Moy to the Mary's Meals Centre in Benburb, departing at noon.

The walks form part of the charity's annual Step By Step To Feed The Next Child initiative, which runs from late July to August 15. Participants cover more than 200 kilometres across the island of Ireland before finishing at Knock Shrine in County Mayo.

Mary's Meals provides a daily nutritious meal to more than three million school children in 16 of the world's poorest countries. The charity states that it costs 10 pence to feed a child for a day, or £19.15 to cover school meals for an entire academic year.

The first two Tyrone walks are organised by the recently formed Dungannon and District branch of Mary's Meals. Local volunteers Noel McCrystal, Damien Moore, Una McAlinden and John McKenna established the branch last October. In less than a year the group has raised around £20,000 for the charity.

Mr McCrystal encouraged all ages and abilities to join the walks, whether for the full route or a short distance. He noted that 93 per cent of every pound donated goes directly to charitable work, and described the mission as focusing on the basic value of feeding a child.