Marcus Rashford unites food giants in big plan to reduce child poverty
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford has taken another major step to reduce child poverty in the UK – bringing together major supermarkets, food delivery companies and charities under a single umbrella.
The 22-year-old has united Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Aldi with delivery giants Deliveroo and charity FairShare to create a powerful taskforce with a long-term vision to ensure children don’t go hungry.
The group is calling on the government for three key changes.
These include free school meals for every child from a household on Universal Credit or equivalent; holiday food and activities to support all children on free school meals; and raising Healthy Start voucher value to at least £4.25 per week to help children under four and pregnant women.
According to the BBC, the taskforce says these changes would represent a “unifying step to identifying a long-term solution to child poverty in the UK”.
Rashford made headlines earlier this year for his role in forcing a major government U-Turn – campaigning successfully for children to receive free school meals throughout the summer holidays.
The striker’s efforts led to him becoming the youngest ever person to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester.
However, Rashford – who grew up relying on food banks and free school meals in Wythenshawe – admitted that his campaign “still [had] a long way to go” in the bid to beat child poverty.
Speaking about his new taskforce, he said he was “proud and humbled” by the response.
“…I am confident that together we can help change the lives of those most vulnerable for the better,” he added.