Marcus Rashford and his mum help out at FareShare food bank

Marcus and his mum, Melanie have been helping out at FareShare this morning.

It comes following the vote on the extension of the free school meal scheme being defeated in the House of Commons this week.

Rashford has been an ambassador for the national food redistribution charity, FareShare since March this year.

The charity says they’ve seen a huge soar in demand for food since the outbreak of Covid-19 and now find themselves distributing double the amount since before lockdown.

The charity is delivering enough food for two million meals a week.

The charity has taken on additional warehouse space to allow for more food redistribution in the region. 

The new warehouse is named after Rashford’s mum, Melanie Maynard House. The charity have launched a £300,000 fundraising appeal to fund it.

Rashford said: “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.

“As FareShare and other food-related charities approach one of the toughest Winters on record, with demand higher than ever before, it is important that I stay connected and lend my support wherever it is needed.

“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.

“Food banks who are staffed with selfless volunteers, dedicating their lives to protecting those most vulnerable, those who, in many cases, have fallen into unforeseen circumstances due to illness, personal loss and unemployment.

“It should be noted that a lot of these volunteers have themselves suffered unemployment as a result of the pandemic, yet they still strive to help others less fortunate.

“That to me is the greatest example of what we can do, and the difference we can make, when we just work together.”

FareShare is now delivering more than 80 tonnes of food a week in Greater Manchester alone, equating to 200,000 meals.

Lindsay Boswell, chief executive of FareShare UK, added: “We are disappointed with the outcome of the vote, which would have been the first step on the road to providing some peace of mind to the millions of struggling UK families.

“FareShare continues to provide over two million meals each week to vulnerable communities across the UK and we stand ready to provide all the food we can obtain, so we can continue supporting those families and children that seek help to access good, healthy food.”