Marcus Rashford will be invited to Rochdale to promote the ‘read and feed’ scheme this summer

Marcus Rashford will be invited to Rochdale to promote the ‘read and feed’ scheme run by libraries over the summer holidays.

The Manchester United star has been widely recognised for persuading the government to U-turn over plans to end free school meal vouchers during the six-week summer break.

The 22-year-old - who also teamed up with food waste charity FareShare to raise £20m for poverty-stricken families - this week became the youngest person to be awarded an honorary doctorate.

Now an invitation is in the post from Rochdale Council, which wants him to visit the borough to promote its Fit, Feed and Read scheme - an initiative chiefs hope to see rolled out across Greater Manchester.

The brainchild of Councillor John Blundell, it gives youngsters from disadvantaged areas to have lunch at their local library, where they can also pick up a book or take part in sports, arts and crafts.

A full council meeting backed a motion from Councillor Peter Malcom calling for a letter to be sent to the star, thanking him for his efforts and inviting him to help promote Fit, Feed and Read across the borough.

Middleton councillor Kallum Nolan said: “As a United fan from Langley I have been in awe of Marcus Rashford, from Wythenshawe - another overspill estate - and I have watched in absolute admiration as he forced a government u-turn on such an important issue. 

“I was at Old Trafford for his debut in 2015 when he scored two goals on his debut in the Europa League, and it’s quite surreal to see him grow into a person that has now improved the lives of 1.3m people.”

 

 

However, while councillors agreed on their admiration for the Reds’ frontman, there was a more controversial and political aspect to the debate.

Referring to the footballer’s successful campaign, the motion adds that while his campaign was laudable, ‘what is more striking is that this has to happen in the first place’.

It adds: “The Tory government, since taking office in 2010, has seen child poverty levels skyrocket. In 2020 Britain, celebrities shouldn’t have to put the government on the spot to ensure children are fed and healthy.”

Conservative councillor Peter Winkler said his group could not support the motion in its original form

He said: “I’m disappointed that the Labour group have used their motion to politicise the actions of a local sporting personality, who acted in good faith and without political motivation.

“I believe we can all agree Mr Rashford’s efforts were laudable, coming from a place of personal experience, therefore I must believe any member would want to thank him for his representations he made to the government.”

But Councillor Winkler also said it was ‘important and only fair’ to thank the government for listening to the representations of Mr Rashford and others, including Heywood and Middleton MP Chris Clarkson.

The Norden councillor added that numerous residents had asked him to pass on their thanks to the government for the ‘extensive support’ it had provided, including the furlough scheme and millions in government business grants.

However, Labour insisted the issue was a political one and Rashford had forced the government’s hand, having previously been unmoved by their own campaign.

Councillor Blundell said: “What we can not get away from is that the only reason that the scheme has to exist, the only reason I was seeing children turn up at Smallbridge Library looking for lunch is that this government has seen child poverty skyrocket.”

He added that former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s constituency had gone from helping 80 families a year to around 1,200 over the last winter period, something he found ‘utterly frightening’.

“The fact is we need to make sure children get access to healthy meals through the summer holidays. But this wasn’t happening on the scale it has been.

“This is Victorian, we haven’t seen this through the noughties, the only reason this exists is because of the actions of the Conservative government and that’s why I speak against your amendment.”

The Conservative amendment – which removed references to how the country has seen ‘child poverty skyrocket’ under Tory governments since 2010 – was defeated, despite Lib Dem support, when put to the vote.

The original motion was carried, although the Liberal Democrats abstained, and the Conservatives voted against.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter