MANCHESTER UNITED are lending a hand in Marcus Rashford’s fight to end child food poverty by donating 5,000 school meals over half-term.
The England striker is in a battle with Boris Johnson’s Government to ensure disadvantaged kids are kept fed while school is out.
Marcus Rashford and mum Melanie recently visited Farshare’s Manchester baseCredit: AP:Associated Press
Manchester United are lending their support to the free meals campaign
While there is talk of a U-turn in Westminster, United have stepped in to help six schools around Manchester.
This week the club and its foundation will team up with food charity FareShare to cook and package 5,000 meals in the Old Trafford kitchens.
Schools will then send on the meals to kids usually on the free meals scheme.
Rashford has continued his fight to ensure disadvantaged youngsters are fed during breaks in term, having himself been on the scheme in his school days.
The Government awarded the 22-year-old an MBE earlier this month for his campaigning but he has vowed to keep the pressure on.
Rashford said: “It’s a nice moment for me personally but I feel like I’m still at the beginning of the journey that I set out to try to achieve.
“I think what I would like to do now that I’m in this position is just speak directly to the prime minister and really ask for the vouchers to be extended until at least October half-term because I think that’s what the families need.
“Speaking to them and knowing how much they’ve been helped, and how much it’s going to affect them if they don’t have it, that’s got to be my main focus now – to get that message across.”
In recent days, Rashford has tweeted about towns and cities across the UK running similar schemes to feed kids over half-term to his 3.7million followers.
Miranda Kaunang, Head of Development at FareShare Greater Manchester, said: “The hardship brought on by Covid-19 has presented a challenge like nothing we’ve ever seen before.
“Demand for food has more than doubled and we are now distributing more than 80 tonnes of food a week – two thirds of which goes to children and families.
“This partnership with Manchester United and Manchester United Foundation comes at a crucial time – it’s never been more important to ensure vulnerable children have access to good, nutritious food and we are so grateful for their support.”
Boris Johnson says ‘we don’t want to see children going hungry this winter’ in hint u-turn on funding to come
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
