Brakes will join him and some of Britain’s leading retailers and food manufacturers, to endorse three policy recommendations from the Government’s National Food Strategy, with the objective of seeing sufficient funds allocated to implementing them – a unifying step to identifying a long-term solution to child food poverty in the UK.
Hugo Mahoney, Brakes chief executive, said: “Child food poverty is a societal problem that Brakes passionately believes we need to address; so much so, that in 2015 we started our own charity, Meals & More, to help fund, educate and provide practical support to address the complex issues of child holiday hunger.
“The Child Food Poverty Task Force has an incredibly important role to play in today’s very difficult climate, with many families struggling to put food on the table. We applaud the amazing job Marcus has done in shining a light on this important issue, and are ready to play our part in supporting the aims of the task force.
“While most of the companies working on the taskforce are retail-focused, the Brakes team felt that the foodservice sector was under-represented and we were keen to link up with Marcus to lend support.
“As a wholesale supplier to many thousands of restaurants, pubs and catering venues, we understand the important role that food plays at the heart of communities. We look forward to combining forces with other members of the Task Force, and many of our customers, to create a movement to end child food poverty.”
Rashford said: “This is an inclusive Task Force and I’m amazed by the momentum it’s gathering, with Brakes as our newest member. There is such power in us all standing together and I’m very proud that I stand with influential voices and platforms who are committed to changing the lives of millions of children in the UK.
“I’m confident Brakes will be able to offer new and valuable insight. No one wants to see a child going hungry and the time for change is now.”
In signing up to the Child Food Poverty Task Force, Brakes has committed to endorsing three policy recommendations:
* Expansion of free school meals to every child from a household on Universal Credit or equivalent, reaching an additional 1.5m 7-16 year olds
* Expansion of holiday provision (food and activities) to support all children on free school meals, reaching an additional 1.1m children
* Increasing the value of the Healthy Start vouchers to £4.25 per week (from £3.10) and expanding into all those on Universal Credit or equivalent, reaching an additional 290,000 pregnant women and children under the age of four