World Vision’s celebrity supporters

Fiona Looney's trip to Uganda to meet the boy she sponsors

Fiona Looney has been sponsoring children with World Vision Ireland for more than 20 years. In 2023 she travelled to Busitema in Uganda to meet John, a 7-year-old boy she is currently sponsoring. She saw how life for John and his family has been greatly improved. She also got to see first-hand, how sponsorship benefits entire communities.

Liam Cunningham travelled to meet South Sudanese refugees.

Liam Cunningham travelled with World Vision to Northern Uganda to meet South Sudanese refugees crossing the border into Uganda which is now the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world. To date, there are over 898,000 refugees in the West Nile region who have had to flee the conflict. This number is growing by over 2000 refugees daily.  86% of the refugees that have crossed over are women and children. 

During Liam Cunningham's time in Uganda, he visited our programmes at the Bidi Bidi and Imvepi settlement camps and met with the refugees who live there, in need of urgent help.

'Bring to the Table'

Roz Purcell and Conor Spacey highlight the Importance of Food Sustainability with World Vision Ireland

Roz Purcell, cookery author and World Vision Ireland ambassador, spoke about the importance of food sustainability, and the role it can play in ending global hunger, at the Smock Alley Theatre. 842 million people worldwide are hungry with 827 million of these living in developing countries. World Vision Ireland is encouraging sustainable food consumption, so that people can play a local part in ending a global problem.

The cooking and information evening, called 'Bring to the Table' was run by World Vision Ireland. It focused on food sustainability and nutrition concerns with an expert panel over a unique, three-course dinner. Each course was prepared using ingredients available in either a developing country, a refugee camp, or made with sustainable Irish foods.

The expert panel included sustainability chef, Conor Spacey; cookery author, Roz Purcell; immigrant activist, Ellie Kisyombe; Zimbabwean farmer, Elizabeth Gwewo; and World Vision Ireland's Programmes Director, Maurice Sadlier.

“It was amazing seeing so many people talking about food sustainability in one room.” Roz Purcell said. “I think people are really waking up to the realities of climate change. It’s devastating environmental impacts include crop failure, food shortages, drought and displaced communities. I’m thrilled to be able to talk about an issue I’m really passionate about, and to look at positive solutions we can all make in our daily cooking routines, to improve our food sustainability.”

“Global hunger is a challenge that has a solution.” Conor Spacey said. “It’s not just about giving a community food for an indefinite amount of time. It’s about encouraging sustainable food growth, cooking and teaching. Sustainable development has positive environmental and economic effects, with better consumption and production alignment. It also has a positive human impact. If implemented correctly on an international scale, it means that no parent will have to see their children go to bed at night, hungry.”

The ‘Bring to the Table’ event was a part of the Irish Aid public engagement work. World Vision Ireland’s HungerFree campaign is supported by Irish Aid. It will run until the end of October, focusing on food sustainability and global hunger. For more information, follow World Vision Ireland on Twitter - @WorldVisionIre

“It was amazing seeing so many people talking about food sustainability in one room.” Roz Purcell said. “I think people are really waking up to the realities of climate change. It’s devastating environmental impacts include crop failure, food shortages, drought and displaced communities. I’m thrilled to be able to talk about an issue I’m really passionate about, and to look at positive solutions we can all make in our daily cooking routines, to improve our food sustainability.”

“Global hunger is a challenge that has a solution.” Conor Spacey said. “It’s not just about giving a community food for an indefinite amount of time. It’s about encouraging sustainable food growth, cooking and teaching. Sustainable development has positive environmental and economic effects, with better consumption and production alignment. It also has a positive human impact. If implemented correctly on an international scale, it means that no parent will have to see their children go to bed at night, hungry.”

The ‘Bring to the Table’ event was a part of the Irish Aid public engagement work. World Vision Ireland’s HungerFree campaign is supported by Irish Aid. It will run until the end of October, focusing on food sustainability and global hunger. For more information, follow World Vision Ireland on Twitter - @WorldVisionIre

Amanda Redman

British actor Amanda Redman has sponsored a child with World Vision since the 1990s. In 2015, she travelled with us to Nepal to see our work following the devastating earthquake. Once home she appeared on ITV's This Morning, Loose Women and Aled Jones' Weekend talking about our emergency response efforts in the mountain kingdom.

Elizabeth McGovern

Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern sponsors Jestina in Sierra Leone and in 2013 she travelled to meet her. In 2014 she helped promote our #ANightOfHope campaign to help children in war-torn Syria.

Selasi Gbormittah

In August 2017, TV baker Selasi travelled to the refugee settlements in Uganda – including the world’s largest, Bidi Bidi – with World Vision UK, where he met the child refugees who had fled the brutal conflict in neighbouring South Sudan.

Natasha Little

Star of The Night Manager, Natasha Little, travelled to Serbia with World Vision in 2015. She visited a desolate village close to the border with Croatia and helped distribute food packages to refugees from countries like Syria and Afghanistan. She also saw the impact of our Child Friendly Space on refugees, as she sat with children suddenly able to safely play with toys and other children.