Schoolchildren in Malawi are set to benefit from a £7,000 donation from one of Scotland's largest school catering suppliers thanks to a community benefits initiative with Scotland Excel - the country's centre of procurement expertise for local government.

Brakes Group - one of the country's leading foodservice providers - was able to make the donation as a result of community benefit clauses incorporated into its contract to provide frozen food to Scotland's schools.

The money was donated to Mary's Meals - an international charity set up to provide school feeding programmes for children in some of the world's poorest countries. It will be used to build and equip a school kitchen at Mgoloka Primary School in Balaka in southern Malawi through its Sponsor a School Project. This will provide nearly 800 pupils at the school with a daily meal to allow them to stay at school and find a way out of poverty.

Scotland Excel has community benefit clauses in a variety of its public sector contracts which enable bidders to offer social, economic or environmental benefits to customers as part of their tender. In the first half of this year (April - September), this has helped to support over 8,000 hours of work experience, 28 new jobs and 18 apprenticeships, as a well as range of other benefits.

The kitchen will be named "Belle's Kitchen" in honour of Belle McIntyre who died aged six in 2013 following her battle with cancer. Belle was the granddaughter of Alistair McIntyre, Head of Catering Services at Scottish Borders Council. To date, Alistair has helped to raise over £46,000 for Cancer Research UK, with staff at Scotland Excel pitching in to support his fundraising efforts.

Welcoming the announcement, Julie Welsh, Director of Scotland Excel, said: "Effective public procurement not only helps to deliver savings to the public purse, but also provides suppliers with an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to supporting a wide range of social, economic and environmental benefits.

"We're thrilled that, thanks to the Scotland Excel frozen foods contract used by local authorities, Brakes Group has been able to make this very generous donation , which will help improve the lives of those most in need".

Chris Boyle, Brakes Group's Business Manager, added: "Brakes is delighted that, through our participation in this Scotland Excel framework, we have been able to play a part in providing schoolchildren in Malawi with access to a daily nutritional meal. Raising funds for Mary's Meals Sponsor a School Kitchen project has enabled us to support the excellent work of a Scottish-based charity which has strong educational links to Scottish schools."

Alan Brown, Executive Director of Mary's Meals, said: "Mary's Meals works in some of the world's poorest areas where so often the children can't go to school, because they're working, or begging on street corners, or doing whatever it takes to put the next meal on the table. So they miss out on their education, which is the key to lifting the world's poorest communities out of poverty.

"By providing a daily meal in school, Mary's Meals attracts chronically hungry children to the classroom, where they can receive an education and gain skills that can help them escape poverty in the future.

"We are incredibly grateful to Brakes and Scotland Excel for teaming up to build and equip a kitchen at Mgoloka Primary School in Malawi, ensuring that the dedicated local volunteers have a safe and hygienic environment to prepare the daily meal they serve to the 798 children learning there. This is proof that great things can be achieved when people work together, and we are truly thankful that so many people have chosen to walk this journey with us as we continue to reach out to the next child in need of Mary's Meals."