Not only has Marcus Rashford inspired a generation, now he’s fed them too.
During the past few months, he helped raise over £20m to feed 3 million vulnerable people in the UK. The England player has now spearheaded a campaign calling on the Government to reconsider a decision not to provide free school meal vouchers in England over the summer.
“We are trending no 1 and 2 in England. I need everyone’s help to keep this noise going as I head to training but before I go, to ALL MPs in Parliament, this is not about politics. The same way us players put rivalry aside when we put the England shirt on, please #maketheuturn. When you wake up this morning and run your shower, take a second to think about parents who have had their water turned off during lockdown. When you turn on your kettle to make a cup of tea or coffee think of those parents who have had to default on electricity bill payments just to make ends meet having lost their jobs during the pandemic. And when you head to the fridge to grab the milk, stop and recognise that parents of at least 200,000 children across the country this morning are waking up to empty shelving. Recognise children around the country are this morning innocently questioning ‘why?’ 9 out of 30 children in any given classroom are today asking ‘why?’ ‘Why does our future not matter?’ We are trending no 1 and 2 in England. I need everyone’s help to keep this noise going as I head to training but before I go, to ALL MPs in Parliament, this is not about politics. The same way us players put rivalry aside when we put the England shirt on, please.”
The UK government has now made a U-turn. He has agreed to extend the free school meal voucher scheme through the summer holidays, with £120m to be spent on the extension. The £15 a week vouchers will be made available to around 1.3 million children in England who are currently eligible for the scheme, and will last for six weeks in what has been called a “Covid Summer Food Fund”.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said he “understands children and parents face unprecedented situations” during the coronavirus outbreak.
“I don’t even know what to say. Just look at what we can do when we come together, THIS is England in 2020. I don’t claim to have the education of an MP, but I do have a social education. I’m clued up on the difference a U-turn decision would make on 1.3m vulnerable children registered for free school meals, because ten years ago I was one of them.”