Marcus Rashford has been awarded the cover of Vogue thanks to his anti-child poverty campaign.
Marcus Rashford and Adwoa Aboah cover Vogue
The 22-year-old footballer joins model Adwoa Aboah on the front page to head up the UK fashion bible's 'Activism Now' issue, thanks to his successful campaign for free school meals for vulnerable children over the summer holidays.
After relying on school breakfast clubs and free school meals as a child with a working mum on minimum wage, Marcus vowed to help those in a similar position as soon as he was able to.
He told Vogue: "The system was not built for families like mine to succeed. This was something I had experienced. That my mum had experienced.
"That we had experienced as a family. I always swore to my mum that if one day I was in a position to help, then I would, and an opportunity presented itself.
"I had been working with FareShare since before the lockdown so had seen first-hand how parents had become reliant on foodbanks and the support of the food vouchers."
Marcus raised over £20 million for more than three million children nationwide who would otherwise go hungry during the lockdown, and continues to work hard for kids during the school holidays.
However, he knew he would risk his career as many sportstars have kept silent on politics in the past for fears of losing their fan base.
But the Manchester United forward was determined to share his childhood story to help others in need.
He added: "Plenty of athletes and clubs work within the communities. You might not always hear about it but that doesn't mean they aren't. With me, it has been instilled in me from a young age that I would use my voice to help others and I have a great team around me who have always encouraged me to just be myself. On a sensitive subject like this, being myself was enough, because nobody could tell my childhood story better than me."
Read the full feature in the Vogue September issue available via digital download and on newsstands on Friday (07.08.20).
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