Gerard Butler helps Crieff schoolchildren raise cash for kids in Africa

Hollywood actor Gerard Butler has donated money to help provide food to children in Africa.

The 44-year-old Scottish star of 300 and Olympus Has Fallen learnt of the plight of the kids when he visited his mother, Margaret, in Comrie in Perthshire.

She had told Butler of a fundraising campaign by pupils at St Dominic’s Primary School, Crieff, to help the charity Mary’s Meals cover the cost of a kitchen for a school in Malawi.

As a result, Butler donated £1,000 and a machine-made cross-stitch artwork of his face to auction.

The Crieff pupils have raised £5,000 of their target of £7,000 and aim to put the artwork up for auction on the eBay website.

Quoted in another Scottish daily newspaper, an insider said: “Gerard was in the area and heard about the work the local schoolkids were doing to help others in need.

“He was blown away and keen to donate the full amount of cash they needed to the charity. However, his mum insisted that the kids were having fun with their fundraising.

“Instead, Gerard wrote the kids a cheque for £1,000 and donated the cross-stitch creation, which is about 30 inches by 22 inches and which he was given by a fan.”