A SCOTTISH charity is helping 13,000 families hit by devastating floods in India – and is appealing to the public to support its efforts.

Mary’s Meals is distributing food parcels containing rice to thousands of vulnerable families in two villages. Father Joson Thakaran, who leads the charity’s partner organisation in India, travelled to his home state of Kerala to meet people displaced by the flooding and coordinate the emergency food distribution.

He said: “These are the worst floods in living memory. Homes are under seven feet of water.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, who founded Mary’s Meals in 1992, commented: “We have a long history of responding to emergency situations through existing partners who are well placed to provide quick and effective relief to those who are suffering.”