Footballer Marcus Rashford thanks Welsh artist for mosaic tribute after school meals campaign

A Welsh artist has said a special 'Thank You' to Premier League footballer Marcus Rashford after his successful campaign to get free school meals for children in England throughout the summer.

The England and Manchester United footballer got involved with the issue when the UK government's plans to scrap a voucher scheme at the start of the school holidays came to light.

He wrote an open letter on social media calling for a different decision to be made, prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce that the scheme would now continue during the summer months.

The UK government's u-turn was only relevant to children and families in England, with the Welsh Government already making the decision in April to continue the scheme across the country.

Nathan Wyburn is well-known in Wales for his artistic skills, making countless mosaics and paintings of key figures and he hasn't stopped during lockdown.

He has now created an impressive portrait of Rashford using photos from children and families who benefit from the scheme in Wales.

As a special thank you to the footballer, Nathan decided to create a mosaic using photos of children and families across Wales who will benefit from the continued scheme and free school meal vouchers.

"My family didn't have much money growing up, we weren't poor but we did benefit from free school meals," Nathan continued.

"I asked people to send images of families and children that will benefit from free school meals."

Nathan said that he received over 60 photos to help make the mosaic that Rashford then shared himself on his Twitter page.

"I like that my artwork can make people smile, if it makes someone happy then that is a great thing particularly at the moment," he continued.

"I am really grateful for what he has done and achieved in such a short space of time and I am sure a lot of other people are as well."

This isn't the first piece of art that Nathan has created since being in lockdown, earlier in the coronavirus pandemic he created a special painting, using his feet, for Captain Tom Moore.

He also created a mosaic for the NHS using photos of families and people across Wales. It was also made up of hundreds of photographs of health workers.

Nathan makes the digital mosaics using a collage of pictures. He edits each photo from dark to light depending on the image and then places them in specific places to create a larger mosaic.