Not only did Marcus Rashford score 20+ goals in a season for the first time in his Manchester United career, the Wythenshawe lad has been making his mark on the country off the field by taking on the Prime Minister and winning.

When Boris Johnson announced that free school meals for disadvantaged children would be stopped over the summer, despite the increased poverty due to parents being made redundant and furloughed during the global pandemic, he started a campaign to get the government to make a u-turn on their decision. And they did.

In recognition of this achievement, Rashford is set to appear on the cover on Vogue’s September addition, alongside fashion model Adwoa Aboah.

“As an athlete, failure is a part of everyday life,” Rashford told the magazine. “You lose a game, you bounce back for the next one. You lose in a cup final, you come back stronger next season. In this case, the failure would have been me not standing up for all of those people that didn’t have a voice. I would have failed everyone that had helped me get to where I am today if I didn’t put myself out there and say: ‘This is not ok – and it needs to change.’ In fact, I would have failed my 10 year old self. This was an issue I could relate to. This was something I had experienced. That my mum had experienced. That we had experienced as a family. I always swore to my mum that if one day I was in a position to help, then I would, and an opportunity presented itself. I took a risk, yes. But I reduced the risk by educating myself. I had listened and I had spoken to those most affected. I had been working with FareShare since before the lockdown so had seen first-hand how parents had become reliant on foodbanks and the support of the food vouchers. I had been listening to stories from parents, carers, headteachers and my partner FareShare for weeks and I felt a responsibility to give them the opportunity to share their stories and have their voice heard. People were talking but no one was really listening. I’m by no means a politician but I had a voice and a platform that could be used to at least ask the questions.”

Screenshot 2020-08-03 at 17.34.13

Thanks to his work with FareShare, four million meals have been provided to children in need. He’s now not only a hero in Manchester but to kids all over the country.