Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford to receive honorary degree from University of Manchester

Marcus Rashford Credit: PA

Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford, will receive an honorary doctorate from The University of Manchester later this summer.

The university says the award, which is the highest honour it can bestow, will be for his campaign against child poverty off the field and outstanding sporting achievements on the pitch.

Rashford, 22, will be the youngest ever recipient of an honorary degree from The University of Manchester.

During the lockdown, Rashford, from Wythenshawe in Manchester, teamed up with the poverty and food waste charity, FareShare. The collaboration has led to £20 million raised in financial and food donations enabling 3.9 million meals to be distributed to the country’s most vulnerable every week during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 15 June, he pushed the campaign forward even further by writing a heartfelt open letter to the UK Government. He followed up this message with a high-profile publicity and social media campaign drawing on his own personal experiences of using foodbanks and afterschool clubs growing up.

36 hours later the Government announced a change in policy, extending the food voucher scheme for those children on free school meals throughout the summer holidays. Rashford’s campaign was credited as a major turning point in the Government’s thinking.

Now, despite the return of Premier League football, the striker says he will continue to campaign for those most vulnerable across the UK.

Marcus Rashford forced the government to do a u-turn on its free school meals policy Credit: PA

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed Rashford.

"We're so proud of Marcus," Solskjaer said. "I've said it a few times, but he's a great person and great human being.

"He cares about so much more than himself and the work he's done shows he cares so much more about others than himself.

A spokesperson from Manchester United said: “Marcus is an exceptional player and an exceptional person. His work with FareShare and his focus on child poverty make him richly deserving of this tremendous honour and everyone at Manchester United is incredibly proud of him.”