Rashford helps raise £20m to feed vulnerable children

When schools were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Marcus Rashford knew from personal experience that some children were at risk of going hungry.

As a youngster, the Manchester United striker benefited from free school meals, which are now unavailable for young people who are having to stay at home.

"If this would have happened 10 or 15 years ago, it definitely would have affected myself as a kid in the position I was in," Rashford told Man Utd's official website.

"It's just something I thought, if there's a way to try and help people and kids especially, let's just try and do it."

Rashford has partnered with Fareshare, a national network of charitable food distributors who take surplus supplies to community groups.

With his help, around £20million has been raised and the operation has grown.

"It's a big number," said Rashford. "At first, the donations were going kind of slow. I put a bit of money in myself.

"It was at like £50,000, £60,000 and then I just remember two days later it was at £140,000 and something.

"It got to the stage where we had a lot of donations, more than we expected, and we were actually struggling to deliver the food to people.

"So that's where the bigger companies like Tesco, Co-op, Asda have come in and helped us with deliveries and that side of things, and their own large donations as well. It's definitely a big positive."