The star of Brideshead Revisited had the opportunity to see how the charity has helped coffee farmers and workers in the country, a focus point for this year’s Christian Aid Week.

She visited Soppexcca cooperative of small-scale coffee producers, which Christian Aid supports with funding and business advice.

Profits from the organic, fairly traded coffee produced by the cooperative’s 700 workers are used to fund development initiatives in the Jinotega area where the cooperative is located. These include the construction of schools and health clinics, and youth projects.

During her visit to the cooperative, Atwell joined female workers at the sorting line to separate the sub-standard beans from good quality beans.

She also visited a school built in the village of La Paz using profits from the cooperative.

Atwell appealed to people to help change communities in the developing world by donating to Christian Aid this week.

She said: “I never thought when I was working in a coffee shop in my late teens that I would see for myself how important coffee could be to poor communities in Nicaragua.

“I’ve seen how Christian Aid’s approach to helping people work their way out of poverty can make a dramatic difference to their lives.

“The people I met did not want hand outs, just help to get their own business off the ground, the profits from which they have used to benefit the whole community.”