In a world where we are so used to instant gratification we often forget the struggles that certain families have to go through to be able to provide meals for their children! Recently England’s department of education decided to end the programme that provides free meals for the families with lower income than ourselves however superstar Marcus rashford was having none of it. Due to covid 19 we have been in lockdown for 3 months now and while the majority of footballers took it as a time to have a break Marcus rashford decided to tirelessly campaign against the government’s decision .we don’t usually know rashford for his government policy reform which states his excellence as most footballers use their status and high profiles to show their amazing life however Marcus used it as an advantage to make more people aware of the situation.
Rashford is one of the higher paid Manchester united players and has an estimated net worth of around 19 million however he hasn’t forgotten his roots as a struggling child which is what urged him to help with the situation which he branded the pandemic of food poverty. Marcus rashford wrote an emotional letter to our prime minister stating his situation as a precipitant of free meals and how massive the struggle was for his mother a single parent to feed 5 children whilst grafting working hours on minimum wage. Rashford grew up in Wythenshawe which was once thought to be the largest council estate in Europe and went to a school where the number of children needing free meals is twice as much as the national average .
the timing that the department of education decided to stop free hot meals was terrible because as a result of covid 19 businesses will have had to make a lot of staff cut backs which will result in unemployment which means it Is unfair of the government to stop free hot meals in these difficult financial time which Is what makes rashford so respectable
Raheem sterling has also used his platform to speak out against the racial issues going on in society .45% of black people in different ethnic minorities are living in poverty and Rashford was very close to being one of those 45% which is why rashford wanted to use his platform to raise awareness on food poverty . There were a lot who wanted to help but didn’t have the personal experience behind it which Marcus rashford had. Following the death of African American George Floyd who was wrongly killed which led to protests across the world protesting that black lives matter. As young black men sterling and rashford have done us proud to speak against issues in society like food poverty and racism.
Rashford has shown incredible intelligence as a 22 year old young footballer to be the one to speak out about the ongoing issue of food poverty.it seems to be largely unacceptable of a country like ours with substantial wealth that kids are going hungry and the fact no professional decided to take action is an outrage that a young footballer had to pressure them into making the correct decision.
In response to rashfords hard work and his letter the board changed their decision and decided to give out vouchers which the vulnerable 1.3 million children can claim during the summer break. Rashford has raised an incredible 20 million pounds of funding.
This has made me incredibly happy simply because footballers have a massive figure in the public eye and are often criticised for their salaries however rashford has used his figure in the public eye to raise awareness and campaign against a serious issue which is truly amazing and a great act of kindness.