Marcus Rashford highlights staggering child poverty in Bolton to win government u-turn on free meals
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More than one in three children are living in poverty in the borough according to figures from the Child Poverty Action Group.
By Thomas Molloy
Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford referenced the levels of child poverty in some parts of Bolton as he won a stunning victory to persuade the government to provide free school meals over summer.
In an open letter , the 22-year-old asked MPs to reconsider plans to not extend the current food voucher scheme and spoke about his own experiences of receiving free school meals.
Rashford, who has raised £20m to boost food distribution with the charity FareShare, tweeted last night: “There are 2 postcodes in the Bolton South East contingency that have the level of child poverty at over 50% according to Child Poverty Action Group. 50% !! #maketheuturn.“
And after the Prime Minister and Department for Education said the scheme will not be extended into the summer, the government performed a dramatic u-turn this afternoon.
A Departm...
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