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Marcus Rashford’s campaign forces UK government to take U-turn on school meal scheme

All children eligible for free school meals in term time will now be the beneficiaries of the “COVID summer food fund”.

SNS | New Delhi | June 16, 2020 7:51 pm

Marcus Rashford’s campaign forces UK government to take U-turn on school meal scheme

Marcus Rashford file image. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford’s campaign was successful on Tuesday as his efforts ensured that as many as 1.3 million children will get free school meal vouchers during the holidays.

According to a report carried by the BBC, the 22-year-old youngster has even been lauded by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who commended him for his “contribution to the debate around poverty”.

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“I don’t even know what to say. Just look at what we can do when we come together, THIS is England in 2020,” Rashford said in a tweet from his Twitter handle.

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All children eligible for free school meals in term time will now be the beneficiaries of the “COVID summer food fund”.

Rashford had worked on his campaign for the government to fund free meals for needy children with the help of summer schools.

Earlier on Monday, Rashford wrote an open letter to the government.

“As a family, we relied on breakfast clubs, free school meals and the kind actions of neighbours and coaches,” he wrote in that letter.

“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,” he added.

“What families are going through now, I’ve once had to go through that — and it’s very difficult to find a way out. It’s very important for me to help people who are struggling. Whether the outcome changes or doesn’t change — that’s why I wrote it,” he said.

“My mum worked full-time, earning the minimum wage, to make sure we always had a good evening meal on the table, but it was not enough,” Rashford wrote in the letter,” he further wrote.

“The system was not built for families like mine to succeed, regardless of how hard my mum worked,” he concluded.

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