UTD Podcast: When Marcus called the Prime Minister
Marcus Rashford’s UTD Podcast sees the Manchester United forward go into intricate detail about his journey to footballing stardom.
Marcus’s upbringing, and his mother’s struggles to feed the family, form an integral part of that story and the 23-year-old has done a simply incredible job to highlight the issue of child food poverty in the UK this year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The England international, who was awarded an MBE in October, has spoken to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a number of occasions, after also sending a letter to the Conservative Party leader. And our no.10’s work has directly led to changes in government policy regarding free school meals.
In his new UTD Podcast - which is available to stream now - Marcus reveals what was discussed between himself and Johnson, and the incredible offer he made to try and get his point about struggling families across…
“Yeah, we spoke on the phone,” Rashford tells UTD Podcast presenters Sam Homewood, Helen Evans and David May. “I just wanted him to understand, basically.
“It’s impossible for him to see it. I said to him, if it makes you more comfortable and you want to see it for yourself, I don’t have a problem. We can drive around [Greater Manchester].
“This was after the letter. We spoke so he’d already managed to understand me a bit more through the letter, but if the letter didn’t work that was the next thing to do. It didn’t have to get to that but, for me, once they do that they’re going to understand everyone a lot more.
“In order to help people, which is what is meant to be the right thing to do, that’s going to have to happen at some stage.”
Although he received the Expert Special Panel Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year event on Sunday, Marcus has spoken numerous times about how he’s interested only in change, rather than personal recognition.
He goes on to explain why he feels he should use the platform he has built as a Premier League footballer to help others, even if it might take time for the impact of his work to be felt where it needs to be.
“We’ve taken a lot of steps in the right direction so I feel like kids are having more of a chance now, more of a say. We might not get the best out of it for the next 10 years.
Rashford receives special sports award
ArticleMarcus speaks on stage as he's honoured by the BBC for his charity work during 2020.
“It might not be the kids now that we affect, it might be the next generation. No matter who it affects, it’s important that it gets done, otherwise it’ll just carry on.
“For me growing up, I said this to people, imagine a race, a 100-metre sprint. I was like 20 metres behind the starting position.
“I see it so many times and now I’m in a position to change it, I couldn’t just not do anything about it because a lot of kids from communities they don’t get to where they could have got to because they’re starting from a million miles behind everyone else.
“They’re not having a fair chance.”