FOOTBALL star Marcus Rashford has told how he is haunted by the sound of his hard-up mum crying herself to sleep as she struggled to provide for her family.
The England and Manchester United striker recalled mother Mel’s torment in an emotional letter to MPs as he launched his campaign against child poverty.
The 22-year-old, who now earns £200,000 a week and has a Cheshire home worth £1.85million, wants children to be the Government’s No1 priority.
He is pushing ministers for reforms after setting up a child poverty task force with major supermarkets.
In his letter, he reflected on growing up in Manchester, writing: “I remember the sound of my mum crying herself to sleep to this day, having worked a 14-hour shift, unsure how she was going to make ends meet.
“That was my reality and thankfully I had the talent to kick a ball around to pull us all out of that situation. Many can’t find that way out and aren’t being offered a helping hand to do so.
“Those most at risk don’t have the platform to scream help from the rooftops but, for those ready to speak, my intention is to offer them the platform to do so and, for those who aren’t, I will continue to be their voice and act on their behalf.
‘MUM CRIED HERSELF TO SLEEP’
“Mothers and fathers are raising respectful, eloquent young men and women, who, in reality, are part of a system that will not allow them the opportunity to win and succeed.
“Add school closures, redundancies and furloughs into the equation and we have an issue that could negatively impact generations to come. It all starts with stability around access to food.”
He gave other examples as he pushed to help four million children living in poverty in the UK.
He said: “I spoke to a mother recently who, along with her two young sons, is currently living off three slices of bread a day — soaking them in hot water and adding sugar, hoping that the porridge consistency might better sustain the hunger of her one-year-old child.
“I spoke to a family who were sleeping on one mattress on the floor — the reason being, like any good parent would, they had had no choice but to sell every valuable they owned to put food on the table for their children.
“All of this, a result of unforeseen circumstances that are entirely out of their control, such as redundancy and illness. This is the true reality of England in 2020.”
Marcus has already helped to raise £20million to fund 3.9million meals for vulnerable children in lockdown.
Now, he is campaigning for three major policy changes. And Boris Johnson has vowed to look closely at the player’s recommendations.
The Sun told how Marcus was seeking an expansion of free school meals to every youngster from a Universal Credit household, helping an extra 1.5million children.
He is also pushing for more food and activities in school holidays for those on free school meals, reaching an extra 1.1million children.
‘THEIR SMILES MADE ME HAPPY’
And he advocates a rise in Healthy Start vouchers, from £3.10 to £4.25 a week, to also include everyone on Universal Credit. A further 290,000 would benefit.
Rashford’s powerful task force includes Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Iceland, Lidl, Deliveroo, FareShare and Kellogg’s.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing: “We are taking substantial action to make sure that no child goes hungry during the pandemic and continue to support those in need.
“Our national voucher scheme supported children eligible for free school meals while they were at home and the Covid summer fund ensured families continued to receive support.
“We will carefully consider the task force recommendations as we approach the next spending review.” Today, Marcus stressed the importance of changing attitudes towards asking for help.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I feel at times people think they are being looked down on if they ask for help. You should feel free to ask for help for anything. Hold your head up high. If you need help go and get help.”
He said he had met families who benefited from the food voucher scheme, adding “Just to see the smiles on their faces and how much it’s helped them made me happy.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
