marcus rashford

Marcus Rashford recalls heartbreaking memories of going hungry as a child

The Manchester United star became a national hero this month

Deputy Online Editor
June 23, 2020

Marcus Rashford has given a candid account of his own childhood experience following his heartfelt campaign, where he urged the government to extend their free school meal vouchers. Speaking to the BBC's Sally Nugent in a video clip post on Instagram, the 22-year-old Manchester United player applauded his mum for doing the best she could whilst he was growing up during difficult circumstances.

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WATCH: Marcus Rashford recalls heartbreaking childhood memories

Asked whether he remembered being hungry as a child, the football star - who also received free school meals as a youngster growing up in Wythenshawe - replied: "Yeah, of course, but I also understood, maybe it was just part of me growing up. I just knew how hard my mum was working.

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"What families are going through now, I once had to go through that same system. It's very difficult to find a way out but now I'm in this position now, it's very important for me to help the people that are struggling."

© Photo: Rex

Marcus is extremely close to his mum, Melanie

Revealing how his mum would ration their allowance each week, Marcus explained: "My mum, she did the best she could. I remember she used to go to a shop called Poundworld and everything was under a pound. We would schedule our allowance. So we would get seven yoghurts and we could only have one yoghurt a day."

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"This is all going on when kids should be concentrating at school," he added. "It's crazy to think that this is still going on." Last week, the England player won the battle to have a free school meal voucher scheme extended for around 1.3million children in England this summer. The campaign prompted the government to make a complete U-turn on the extension of the scheme.

It has since been revealed that Marcus has now signed with rapper Jay Z’s esteemed Roc Nation Sports. Alongside the video, the footballer wrote: "U-turn made [heart emoji] @dnmaysportsmgt @rocnationsports."

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