Besides his on-field performances in 2020, the 23-year-old Mancunian, Marcus Rashford, arm-twisted the Boris Johnson-run conservative United Kingdom government into funding free school meals for poverty-stricken children of England during the coronavirus pandemic. The Manchester United forward who is also regular in the English national team squad, ended the 2019-2020 Premier League season with 17 goals to his name, powering his club to a third-place finish, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.

Playing a total 764 minutes for his club in the 2020-21 Premier League campaign, Rashford has scored 2 goals, providing 3 assists averaging 34 passes a game with an accuracy rate of 82%. He also has 5 goals to his name from 3 matches in the UEFA Champions League.

The United youth player, however, dominated the headlines in 2020 for his unique initiative to fight against child hunger in the country. The 23-year-old organised a successful campaign that provided school children with free meals during the coronavirus pandemic induced lockdown.

Rashford’s campaign “End Child Food Poverty” helped raise 20 million pounds alongside charity organisation FareShare and supplied around 3 million meals to underprivileged children.

The forward’s campaign forced the British government to set up a ‘COVID Summer Food Fund’ of 120 million pounds for the six-week duration of school holidays.

Rashford’s continuous advocacy for the topic also forced the British government to pass a winter grant scheme for the support of poor children and their families during the Christmas holiday season, thus spending more than 400 million pounds on support.

The programme will improve the lives of at least 1.7 million children, reported BBC quoting Rashford. 

Rashford’s campaign for child food poverty also earned him the title of Member of the Order of the British Empire. 

The England striker has also used his Twitter account to promote local cafes, businesses and individuals to voice his support for local brands.

Rashford also teamed up with Macmillan Publishers in November 2020 to launch a book club to help the poor and underprivileged children experience ‘escapism of reading.” Rashford also stated that reading shouldn’t be a privilege saying, it ‘shouldn’t be something a family should have to budget for.’