Marcus Rashford inspires a campaign to combat child hunger in the UK

October 30, 2020 

Manchester United football star and activist, Marcus Rashford, has been leading a movement to make sure underprivileged school children are able to have access to free food over the holidays in the UK. It is part of a mission to put an end to child food poverty. 

Rashford has been advocating to extend the government's free school meals campaign to function over the holidays until Easter 2021, instead of only during term time. This follows his efforts over the summer in which he was able to change the course of the UK Government’s decision allowing about 1.3m children in England to be able to claim free school meal vouchers in the summer holidays.

Scores of councils have pledged to feed disadvantaged children over the school holidays as they join the wave of public support for Rashford’s campaign.  

An extension for free school meals was made available to eligible children during the Easter holidays earlier in the year. However, a road block was hit in October when the Labour bid to extend free school meals was rejected by MPs in Commons. Following the defeat, Rashford leveraged his large following to promote the businesses and councils offering free meals during the school break. 

A groundswell of cafes, businesses, charities and community groups also said they would donate food during half-term next week and over the Christmas holidays, inspired by the campaign.  Rashford has been “blown away” by the response in support of vulnerable children, noting: “Selflessness, kindness, togetherness, this is the England I know.”

The government blocked the bid and decided not to follow in the footsteps of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, stating that they had already given councils £63 million in funding for families who are in disadvantaged positions financially due to Covid-19, in addition to increasing welfare support by £9.3 billion. 

Rashford has voiced his disappointment at the UK Government, taking to social mediar to express his frustrations and launching a petition urging it to double down in their efforts to end child poverty. The petition passed 250,000 signatures two days after it was launched and reached 800,000 signatures in the nine days since. 

Although Labour's bid was rejected, several businesses promised to aid Rashford and start their own campaign to provide free school meals during holidays. 

"Put aside all the noise, the digs, the party politics and let's focus on the reality," Rashford wrote. "A significant number of children are going to bed tonight not only hungry but feeling like they do not matter because of comments that have been made today. 

"We must stop stigmatising, judging and pointing fingers. Our views are being clouded by political affiliation. This is not politics, this is humanity. These children matter. These children are the future of this country. They are not just another statistic, and for as long as they don't have a voice, they will have mine. You have my word on that."