Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford has stepped up his campaign for the government to fund free meals for struggling children through the summer school lockdown, support he himself had to rely on as a boy. Partnering with charity FareShare UK, he has helped to raise around 20 million pounds ($25 million) to supply meals across the country, and is now urging the government to continue its food voucher scheme given to children who are eligible for free school meals. “As a family, we relied on breakfast clubs, free school meals, and the kind actions of neighbours and coaches,” he wrote in a letter to the government posted on Twitter. He is now worried about those children slipping through the net, who had previously been given a hot meal at school. Of the 1.3 million children who are registered for free school meals in England, he said a quarter had not received any support since schools closed in response to COVID-19.

Source: The Star June 15, 2020 08:26 UTC