Golden Boy Marcus Rashford Strikes A Pose For Vogue September 2020 – & – Forms A Task Force To Help Him Achieve Even Bigger Goals
In The Midst of Calls For Systemic Social Justice Reform, Following The Murder of George Floyd On May 25 2020, New Innovative Editor of Vogue Magazine, Edward Enninful, Featured Marcus On The Front Cover of The September Issue 2020 As One of A Number of Social Justice Reform Activists Featured In The Magazine For The Special Issue (As Above With Adwoa Aboah).
“I Really Just Wanted To Kill The Stigma of Asking For Help, Because I Think It’s A Positive Thing To Ask For Help To Get Yourself Out of A Situation. So Yeah, I Want The Stigma To Die.”
Marcus Rashford Explaining Why He Feels So Strongly About His Mission to Help Families On Universal Credit Continue To Receive Free School Meals. Beyond His Summer Success of Achieving A Government U Turn From Saying Meals Provided During Term Time Would Not Be Provided During The Six Week Holidays (Speaking On GMTV Wednesday September 16 2020) Marcus Has Teamed Up With Food Industry Experts To Keep The Food Poverty Protection Going
In Early Summer Downing Street Confirmed That A “Covid Summer School Fund” Would Facilitate The Continuation of School Meal Vouchers Worth £15 A Week To Children Eligible For Free School Meals During Normal Term Time, During The Six Week Summer Holidays As Well. It Marked The Continuation of The School Meal Scheme Set Up Following School Closures Caused By The Corona Virus.
Initially It Had Announced That The School Meal Voucher System Would Stop During The School Holidays. However Working In Association With The FareShare Charity, The Manchester United & England Team Footballer Marcus Rashford, 22, Posted An Open Letter To The Government, June 15 2020 On Social Media, Asking Them To Reconsider.
Rashford’s Letter Detailed That “1.3 Million Children In England Are Registered For Free School Meals, One Quarter Of These Children Have Not Been Given Any Support Since The School Closures Were Ordered.” He Said “To Put This Pandemic Into Perspective, From 2018-2019, Nine Out Of 30 Children In Any Given Classroom Were Living In Poverty In The UK. This Figure Is Expected To Rise By An Additional One Million By 2022. In England Today, 45% Of Children In Black And Minority Ethnic Groups Are Now In Poverty.”
“My Story To Get Here Is All-Too-Familiar For Families In England: My Mum Worked Full-Time, Earning Minimum Wage To Make Sure We Always Had A Good Evening Meal On The Table. But It Was Not Enough. The System Was Not Built For Families Like Mine To Succeed, Regardless Of How Hard My Mum Worked.”
“As A Family, We Relied On Breakfast Clubs, Free School Meals, And The Kind Actions Of Neighbours And Coaches. Food Banks And Soup Kitchens Were Not Alien To Us; I Recall Very Clearly Our Visits To Northern Moor To Collect Our Christmas Dinners Every Year. It’s Only Now That I Really Understand The Enormous Sacrifice My Mum Made In Sending Me Away To Live In Digs Aged 11, A Decision No Mother Would Ever Make Lightly.”
“Understand: Without The Kindness And Generosity Of The Community I Had Around Me, There Wouldn’t Be The Marcus Rashford You See Today: A 22-Year-Old Black Man Lucky Enough To Make A Career Playing A Game I Love.”
Following A Scheduled Vote On The Matter Tuesday June 16 2020 The Government Did A U Turn & Agreed To Extend The Policy.
“The System Was Not Built For Families Like Mine To Succeed, Regardless of How Hard My Mum Worked. As A Family, We Relied on Breakfast Clubs, Free School Meals, & The Kind Actions of Neighbours & Coaches.”
Extract From The Open Letter From Marcus Rashford To The Government On Social Media Spring 2020
He Received A Special Recognition Award In May 2020 From His Beloved City of Manchester For All His Charity Work Helping To Fight Food Poverty. After Working With Food Charity FareShare For Over A Year & Raising Over £150,000 Through Public Appeal, Marcus Helped See That Tesco Pledged Food Worth £15,000 & Co-op, Asda, Pret a Manger & Pizza Express Also Pledged Support & Donations. He Himself Also Made One of The Biggest Donations. He Said The Certificate Belonged To Everyone Who Had Donated & They Were All Stars. In July Manchester University Also Confirmed They Will Be Awarding Him An Honorary Degree As “Social Responsibility” Is At Their Core. Rashford Joins The Likes of Sir Bobby Charlton & Sir Alex Ferguson In Receiving Such An Honour. Rashford Said “It’s A Proud Day For Me & My Family When You Look At Great Names That Have Been Awarded This Doctorate In The Past It’s Humbling.”
‘I Am Just Trying To Impact The Next Generation In A Positive Way.
I Have Done A Lot Of Work With Children And When I Heard About The Schools Shutting Down, I Knew Some Kids Would Not Be Getting Free Meals’
Marcus Explains His Motivations After Winning His Special Recognition Award. He Has Empathy Having Himself Known Food Poverty
Rashford Went Into Overdrive After School Closures Were Imposed From March 20th 2020. During Lockdown Fareshare The Food Poverty & Food Waste Charity (FareShare.Org.UK) Raised Over 20 Million Pounds In Food & Finance & Distributed Over 3.9 Million Meals To Those In Need Working In Collaboration With Him.
After The Success of His School Holidays Food Campaign, Marcus Has Now Set Up A Child Food Poverty Task Force For Long Term Change For Good. He Has Reached Out To The National Food Strategy Review Organisation, Headed By Henry Dimbleby (Co-founder of ‘Leon’ Restaurant Chain), Who Are Conducting The Biggest UK Food System Review In 75 Years. He Has Put Forward Three Main Recommendations, Namely; The Expansion of Free School Meals To All Children On Universal Credit, As Well As School Holiday Meals & Healthy Start Vouchers From £3.10 To £4.25. A Government White Paper Is Scheduled Once The Two Part Review Is Complete In 2021 (Part One Involves Urgent Recommendations In Response To The Covid Crisis & Exit From The EU & Part Two Is Examining The UK Food System “Root To Branch” Said Dimbleby – NationalFoodStrategy.Org)
