Marcus Rashford Is Tweeting Out Every Place Offering Kids Free Meals

Marcus Rashford has shared the details of dozens of restaurants, shops and community groups offering to feed the country’s poorest children after 322 Tories voted down a motion to extend free school meals.

Starting on Thursday night, the England footballer who has spent months campaigning to stop child hunger through school holidays, has shared posts from businesses and groups nationwide who are volunteering free food for children who may otherwise go hungry.

From free sandwiches, sausages and curries to taxis to the nearest available foodbank, dozens of posts have now been shared online as millions of families face a half term of hardship.

Rashford, who successfully campaigned for an extension to food vouchers for children on free school meals through the summer holidays, has urged the government to extend the scheme through to April 2021 as families nationwide struggle with the financial impact of Covid-19 lockdowns.

There are more than 1.4m children currently eligible for free school meals, with it emerging in early October that some 900,000 more children had recently signed up for the scheme.

New research published on Friday reveals that one in seven parents of children not on free school meals are also struggling to cover the cost of food – equivalent to around 850,000 families.

The report by The Children’s Society also reveals 40% of respondents said they had cut down on food they bought for themselves in order to pay for school meals, while a fifth had borrowed money from friends and family.

In a bid to cover costs 17% said they had delayed making gas and electricity payments, while 5% said they had used a foodbank and 5% said they had borrowed from a...

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