People and organisations all over England have banded together to provide free meals for poor children, following the government’s heavily criticised decision not to extend a scheme that would provide schools meals for vulnerable children.
The UK government recently voted against the extension of a scheme that would provide free school meals to children in England. The Labour Party’s plea to extend the scheme resulted in a heated debate in Parliament, but was ultimately rejected. The vote provoked outrage in England, resulting in a swell of support for a campaign against food poverty, led by Marcus Rashford.
Rashford is a football player for Manchester United Football Club who recently garnered attention for highlighting organizations that are offering free food for poor students. Rashford’s Twitter has since been turned into a network of resources for schools seeking provisions for their students.
Rashford started a petition to create a national food strategy, which has garnered 600,000 signatures as of October 24th. McDonald’s has since pledged to donate 1 million meals to families in need in partnership with FareShare, a UK food poverty relief organization. Rashford’s football team Manchester United has also demonstrated its support, planning to deliver 5,000 free meals to children in need this month.
Rashford’s work and its momentum have started to result in change already: local councils in England have pledged to provide meal vouchers to children in need. In addition, hundreds of restaurants and cafes in the country have offered to donate free meals in support. Following intense criticism, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that children in England will not go hungry this Christmas, citing Rashford’s campaign as ‘terrific.’
Donations to fighting food poverty in Britain can be made at the following websites:
Joint Narrative 