Football star Marcus Rashford reveals how he’s haunted by the memory of his mother crying herself to sleep as she struggled to provide for her family as he launches campaign to end child poverty

Marcus Rashford, a football player for the Premier League, has opened up about how his mother used to weep herself to sleep while she tried to support her family.

The Manchester United forward claims that upon his mother Melanie’s return from a 14-hour shift, she would be plagued by her inability to “make ends meet.”

The disclosure was made by the 22-year-old England international in an open letter to lawmakers yesterday, coinciding with the start of a new campaign against child poverty.

The forward, who earns £200,000 per week, also shared his emotive letter, describing how he had encountered a mother who was breaking bread with hot water and adding sugar, ‘hoping that the porridge consistency might help sustain the hunger of her one-year-old child’.

He wrote in the letter, “I remember my mother sobbing herself to sleep after working a 14-hour shift, not knowing how she was going to make ends meet.”

That’s what I lived with, and luckily I was good at kicking the ball about to get us all out of that predicament.

 

The Manchester United striker says his mother Melanie (pictured with her son) would return home after a 14-hour shift, only to be tormented by her struggle to ‘make ends meet’

‘Many can’t find that way out and aren’t being offered a helping hand to do so.

‘Those most at risk aren’t in a position and don’t have the platform to scream help from the rooftops but, for those ready to speak, my intention is to offer them the platform to do so and, for those who aren’t, I will continue to be their voice and act on their behalf.

Marcus Rashford’s three-point plan to help tackle child poverty

1) The Free School Meals program’s expansion

The striker wants to increase the number of children in Universal Credit households who receive free school lunches.

This would add 1.5 million more users to the system.

Presently, over 1.3 million of the nation’s poorest children receive free school meals; each meal costs £2.30, or a total of £3 million per day, according to a 2017 research written for the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

By expanding the system, the daily total would exceed £6 million. If every eligible child claimed their lunch every day for the approximately 195 school days in a year, the projected annual cost would be £583,000,000.

2) Increase holiday assistance for Free School Meal participants

The Manchester United player also wants to increase Christmas assistance for kids enrolled in the Free School Meals program.

extra than a million youngsters would benefit from his demands for extra food and activities.

3) Raise the amount spent on vouchers for Healthy Start

The England international is also requesting that the government raise the value of Health Start Vouchers, which can be used to purchase newborn formula, milk, and simple fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables.

He wants to expand the program to include all Universal Credit recipients and raise the weekly voucher amount from £3.10 to £4.25.

Charities estimate that only approximately two-thirds of people are qualified for the vouchers, despite the fact that about 400,000 households are.

However, the annual expenditure would be almost £60 million if everyone participated. Should every person claim the higher voucher fee, the annual expenditure would be around £90 million.

“In actuality, mothers and fathers are rearing polite, articulate young men and women who are a part of a system that will never give them the chance to succeed and win.”

When you factor in furloughs, layoffs, and school closings, you have a problem that could have an adverse effect on future generations.

“Everything begins with stability regarding food access.”

The football player is pressuring ministers to create a list of reforms to address child poverty. This comes after the player earlier this year forced the government to reverse course and guarantee that free school meals were provided throughout the summer due to COVID-19. This week, the player joined a task force backed by large supermarkets to address child poverty.

These include raising the amount given to parents to help pay the expense of healthier foods, expanding the Free School Meals program, and developing more school holiday activities for children from the lowest homes.

In his letter to MPs, the striker outlined his three-point plan, which includes expanding free school lunches for all children living in Universal Credit homes.

He also wants to expand holiday help for children on the Free School Meals scheme, with more food and activities  – which would benefit more than one million children.

In addition, Mr. Rashford is urging the government to expand the Healthy Start Voucher program to include anybody receiving Universal Credit and raise its weekly value from £3.10 to £4.25. The vouchers may be used for milk, simple fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, and newborn formula milk.

The striker was raised in a £150,000 terraced council home on the harsh Northern Moor estate in Wythenshawe. He currently resides in a £1.5 million mansion in Cheshire.

He cited his own experience of growing up on a council estate during his successful campaign to get the government to extend its Free School Meals throughout this summer.

In his letter today he said he had met others facing extreme hardship since taking on the government over the Free School Meals plan.

He said: ‘I spoke to a mother recently who, along with her two young sons, is currently living off three slices of bread a day — soaking them in hot water and adding sugar, hoping that the porridge consistency might better sustain the hunger of her one-year-old child.

I talked to a family who were sleeping on a floor mattress because, like any good parent, they were forced to sell all they owned in order to provide for their children’s needs.

Mr. Rashford’s school lunch initiative has already assisted in raising £20 million to pay for 3.9 million meals for children who are at risk of being placed in lockdown.

Marcus Rashford is leading a new task force on child poverty.

All of this is the result of events like illness and layoffs that are completely beyond their control. This is England as it truly is in 2020.

Mr. Rashford has already assisted in raising £20 million to pay for 3.9 million lunches for disadvantaged students under lockdown in conjunction with his school meals initiative.

Just a few days after joining a task team on food poverty that includes Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Iceland, Lidl, Deliveroo, FareShare, and Kellogg’s, Boris Johnson has already promised to carefully consider his most recent recommendations.

The prime minister’s spokesperson stated during a briefing yesterday: “We are taking substantial action to ensure that no child goes hungry during the pandemic and to continue supporting those in need.”

“Our nationwide voucher program helped kids who qualified for free school lunches while they were at home, and the Covid summer fund made sure families kept getting assistance.”

“As we get closer to the next spending review, we will carefully consider the recommendations made by the task force.”