Marcus Rashford and his fans have distributed over 21m meals since the first Covid lockdown

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

A food redistribution charity which has joined forces with footballer Marcus Rashford have more than doubled the food they provide since their initial coronavirus exclusion.

FareShare have spent 128.5m meals in a year since 23 March 2020 - more than double the figure for the previous year.

The 23-year-old England football player teamed up with a food redistribution charity, who teamed up with footballer Marcus Rashford at the beginning of the initial lockout, to raise concerns that school closures could cause millions of schoolchildren to go hungry.

FareShare has also won the backing of the government and UK retailers, who are part of Rashford's Child Food Poverty Taskforce.

The pandemic is calling on the government to fund a sustainable "surplus with purpose" fund, which will enable farmers, producers and suppliers to keep surplus food that would otherwise be wasted at no extra cost.

Donations from Rashford and his fans have since financed more than 21 million meals worth of food, two-thirds of which are to go to children and families.

FareShare said it has received "unprecedented" financial support from UK retailers with food donations, financial backing, logistics and storage space, and the government has been granting grants to help with food delivery.

Lindsay Boswell, head of FareShare, said Rashford's "compassion and authenticity" from the sharing of his personal experience had made his campaign so strong.