Marcus has spoken for, and inspired, millions of children. That is so so powerful. Siya Kolisi, South African rugby captain and world cup winner on You Are a Champion
Marcus Rashford MBE is Manchester United's iconic number 10 and an England International footballer.
During the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Marcus teamed up with the food distribution charity FareShare to cover the free school meal deficit for vulnerable children across the UK, raising in excess of 20 million pounds. Marcus successfully lobbied the British Government to u-turn policy around the free food voucher program - a campaign that has been deemed the quickest turnaround of Government policy in the history of British politics - so that 1.3 million vulnerable children continued to have access to food supplies whilst schools were closed during the pandemic.
In response to Marcus's End Child Food Poverty campaign, the British Government committed £400 million to support vulnerable children across the UK, supporting 1.7 million children for the next 12 months.
In October 2020, he was appointed MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. Marcus has committed himself to combating child poverty in the UK and his book You Are a Champion is an inspiring guide for children about reaching their full potential.
Carl Anka is a London-born journalist and broadcaster who likes his tea with milk and one sugar. He has written for BBC, Guardian, VICE, NME, GQ and BuzzFeed among other publications online and in print and specialises in writing about pop culture, video games, films and football. Currently a reporter for sports media group The Athletic, covering Manchester United, he is the host of the Talk of the Devils podcast and is scared of talking on the phone.
Along with Marcus Rashford, Carl is the co-writer of You Are a Champion: How to Be the Best You Can Be - a positive and inspiring guide for life for young readers.