Footballer Marcus Rashford said he was “blown away” by an outpouring of support for his child food poverty campaign from cafes and restaurant owners offering free meals for children.
The Manchester United and England star shared dozens of the offers from small businesses stepping up to help struggling families – after Boris Johnson’s government refused to extend free meal vouchers during upcoming school holidays.
Some councils across England have also vowed to make sure children get free school meals over half term amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with offers of food vouchers and hampers.
Downing Street has declined to praise those offering to provide free meals for vulnerable children over half term in light of the vote, with a No10 spokesperson saying the government had been “clear on our position”.
They added, when asked repeatedly if Mr Johnson welcomed the move from businesses and councils: “I believe the PM said during PMQs that free school meals will continue during term time and that he wants to continue to support families throughout the crisis so they have cash available to feed kids if they need to.”
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said Boris Johnson should be “ashamed” over the refusal to “support businesses providing food for children despite facing huge financial difficulties themselves”.
Mr Rashford has retweeted announcements from cafes, bars and restaurants all over England who want to provide free meals during half-term – as well as local authorities who say they will cover the costs of meal vouchers over the holiday.
“We’re behind Marcus Rashford,” said Baker’s cafe in Bolton – offering free lunches during half-term. “No parent should ever struggle to feed their children.”
Pearson’s Bar in Hull, which will now give out free packed lunches, stated: “The government’s decision not to offer free school meals during holidays at a time like this is quite frankly heart-breaking.”
The Riddling Rack restaurant in St Helen’s, offering free lunches and “early teas” for children, added: “We stand with Marcus Rashford.”
Local authorities have also stepped in to help families in need, with Redbridge Council, Southwark Council and Hammersmith and Fulham Council announcing they would provide free school meal vouchers over half-term.
Liverpool City Council and Doncaster Council have also said they would fund food vouchers throughout the break, which could benefit around 20,000 and 11,000 eligible children in their local areas respectively.
“Today we are saying loud and clear that we will stand by those kids who are receiving free school meals,” Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said.
Meanwhile, North Tyneside Council said they were working to organise food hampers for families in need over half-term.
Around 6 per cent of children are worried about going hungry during October half-term, according to the Food Foundation.
Mr Rashford and his mother Melanie visited to food redistribution charity FareShare in Manchester on Thursday, which is naming one of its new facilities ‘Melanie Maynard House’ in her honour.
“Blown away by news of local businesses stepping up to fill the voucher scheme deficit during the October half term,” the campaigner tweeted after his visit to the food charity.
“Selflessness, kindness, togetherness, this is the England I know,” the footballer added.
Businesses and councils have offered to step in after MPs rejected a Labour motion this week to extend the free school meals scheme over school holidays until Easter 2021.
“The real superstars in this country can be found in the heart of most cities, towns and villages, working tirelessly to support our most vulnerable across the UK,” said the England international.
“When we stumble, there will always be a community to wrap their arms around us and pick us back up. For many of us, that is FareShare or the local food bank.”
Tory peer Baroness Morgan was criticised for her comments about Mr Rashford’s campaign on BBC Question Time on Thursday night.
Asked why the government had refused to back Labour’s motion to extend free school meals, the former Tory minister said: “Labour would have got more supporters yesterday if the deputy Labour leader [Angela Rayner] hadn’t called one of the Conservative MPs scum.”
Host Fiona Bruce said: “That’s not exactly the point, is it?”, while Labour MP Bridget Phillipson fired back: “So kids will go hungry this Christmas because you don’t like the parliamentary process?”
On Friday, Steve Barclay, the chief secretary to the treasury, said all issues are kept “under review” when asked if the government would reconsider its position on free school meals.
“It’s important we support families in need, that’s why we’ve allocated £9bn of additional funding through the welfare system, it’s why we’ve spent over £200bn as part of our response to Covid,” he told BBC Breakfast on Friday. “We’ve put measures into school specifically to support disadvantaged children.”
He added: “The issue is what is the best way of getting support to families? And we have done that through the welfare system, through support to local authorities, targeted measures in schools and above all trying to help as many people keep their jobs through the package of measures we’ve set out.”
