A KIND-hearted Inverkip man turned birthday good wishes into meals for the world's poorest schoolchildren.

Mary's Meals volunteer Michael Lynch was over the moon when his wife staged a surprise party for his 70th, all in aid of the charity so close to his heart.

Since retiring nearly ten years ago Michael has been a local driver with the global charity, which exists to provide meals for children at school in countries like Malawi.

His family and friends helped him raise £1,000 at the bash - enough to feed 68 schoolchildren for a year.

Michael, from Inverkip, said: "It was a complete surprise.

"I really didn't want a fuss for my birthday and I walked in to the Chartroom and I wondered what my neighbours were doing there!

"It was a great night and we raised so much money for Mary's Meals.

My wife Mela did a great job."

For the last ten years Michael, who turned 70 on January 2, has worked as a driver for the aid charity, collecting backpacks from local schools and helping send them out to children in some of the poorest countries.

Michael's wife Mela grew up in poverty in the Philippines and since the couple married 13 years ago they have supported her family.

On the night of the surprise birthday party Mela's niece, who now works as a teacher, sent Michael a touching message to thank him for helping her through university and everyone enjoyed traditional Filipino folk dancing and music.

Mela, 50, who works for Amazon, 50, said: "I wanted to do something special for Michael.

"It was very hard to keep it a secret.

"But we had a lovely night and raised lots of money."

Michael started volunteering after learning more about the charity through his church, St Joseph's.

He added: "It just seemed such a worthwhile project and I wanted to help.

"The important thing about Mary's Meals is the children have to go to school to get fed.

"This encourages parents to send them."