To less well-off pupils
there were still four million children in poverty, which could increase due to the crisis.
She said: “Tackling child poverty does not end here, and should be the mission of every government. Free school meals are the last line of defence.”
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, noted that and learning online. There are concerns about a “digital divide”, with poorer children missing out.
A scheme was launched in April with the aim of lending 200,000 laptops to such youngsters. So far just 100,000 have been delivered.
BT’s Marc Allera said the free Wi-Fi scheme will allow thousands of children “to keep up with their the move had only come after “a great deal of public pressure”.
The Government initially doubled down on providing only a £63m pot for councils to help struggling families, which did not guarantee a daily meal.
Cabinet ministers Therese Coffey and Grant Shapps were left embarrassed after defending the position. Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “This is another welcome U-turn from Boris Johnson. Well done to Marcus Rashford and many others who spoke out so powerfully about this issue.”
Rashford also helped to raise £20million to feed three million families in lockdown for FareShare UK. To donate, go to fareshare.org.uk. Chief executive Lindsay Bowswell said: “We’re enormously grateful to Marcus. His campaigning has delivered fantastic results.”
Man Utd tweeted: “A hero. An inspiration. One of our own. We are so proud.”
Local rivals Manchester City wrote: “Fantastic work Marcus Rashford, making Manchester proud.”
Nearly a million tweets were sent about Rashford in 48 hours, with 300,000 alone using #MakeTheUTurn. Stars from the world important digital learning and online schoolwork for the rest of term and over the summer holidays as well as into autumn”.
School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said everything possible would be done to “make sure that no child, whatever their background, falls behind as a result of coronavirus”.
Rashford’s tweet to MPs, to whom he wrote heartfelt letter
MP Therese Coffey of sport and entertainment joined in the praise.
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker wrote: “Great to see Man Utd’s number 10 changing policy at number 10. Extraordinary campaign and win for the brilliant Marcus Rashford.”
England legend Sir Geoff Hurst said: “It’s unbelievable what he’s done. He’ll be a God now in this country.”
Comedian James Corden tweeted: “What @MarcusRashford has done is magnificent. Truly astounding.
“If you’re interested in helping children who are desperately in need, @magicbreakfast are a wonderful charity who provide breakfasts for children across the UK.”
Actor Ralf Little tweeted: “Eloquent, gritty and determined. Incredible achievement for an incredible man.”
TEENAGER Christina Adane’s petition calling on the Government not to take away free school dinners collected 264,000 signatures. Christina, from London, has also relied on free meals like 1.3 million children. She said: “Every day in school I would see people going hungry because they
THE chief executive of a schools foundation says it is “shameful” they have been left with the job of making sure children are not hungry.
Susanna Kempe, of the LaidLaw Foundation, which has seven schools in the North East, said 60% of their pupils have free schools meals.
Because the government voucher scheme was not in place when lockdown began, the schools bought vouchers direct from supermarkets. Ms
DEV Sharma, 15, and his 13-year-old brother, both get free school meals, but were facing six weeks without enough food if No10 hadn’t agreed to continue vouchers during the holidays. Dev, a member of Leicester’s youth parliament, said: “It’s really a lifeline for me and my brother and allows to us to be able to
CAROLINE Foster, deputy head of The Cooperative Academy in Leeds, said while the school meals announcement was “all very honourable”, people will see that it only came after pressure from Marcus Rashford and others.
Her school serves one of the communities with the most deprivation in the UK, didn’t have enough money. It was normal to see people sharing their food because they were ashamed to be a burden on their parents.”
Christina, a co-chair of youth movement Bite Back 2030, said the fight would have taken much longer if Rashford had not stepped in.
She said: “It’s pretty appalling that it took a celebrity of mass power and influence to point out something so obvious.”
Kempe said:
“School leaders, charities and courageous young activists explained an excellent start would be to ensure every child has enough eat.
“Their voices were ignored. “A footballer speaks up and the Prime Minister pays attention – absolutely brilliant of Marcus, entirely abject of Boris Johnson.” have a decent lunch. Without it we’d have to resort to cheaper, unhealthy food.
“My mum is a care worker and my dad an office worker. They try their best to give us healthy food but sometimes the budget just doesn’t stretch, and during the lockdown it’s been hard for families like mine.
“I think a decent lunch is a basic human right. Free meals should be available 52 weeks a year, not just 39.”
with 60% of students getting free school meals.
She said: “Another 20% of pupils should be getting free meals but they’ve just arrived in the country so aren’t eligible yet.”
The Cooperative Trust, which runs the school, has started giving out weekly £20 vouchers, and the charity Magic Breakfast also provides food parcels that staff deliver to “starving” students’ homes, she added.