Burberry has announced a partnership with footballer Marcus Rashford to launch a new charitable initiative to support youth organisations in Manchester, London and New York.
The Manchester United star has become a leading figure in the fight against child food poverty in the UK. The 23-year-old lead striker has raised £20 million in financial and food donations for food distribution charity FareShare and in October he petitioned parliament to extend free school meals over the holidays. Despite the petition becoming only the fifth in British political history to exceed one million signatures, MPs rejected the Labour proposal by 322-261 votes.
Rashford however continues to galvanise the nation to step up and support with feeding local children in need, and has also formed the Child Food Poverty Taskforce, bringing the biggest players in the European food industry together to find a long-term solution to combat child food poverty across the UK.
Burberry is supporting Rashford’s partnership with food distribution charity FareShare, by providing donations which will fund over 200,000 meals distributed across 11,000 charities and community groups across the UK.
Some heroes do wear capes: Marcus Rashford for Burberry
BurberryBurberry’s efforts will also focus more broadly on supporting youths in need: from education to supporting young creatives and artists, and helping young entrepreneurs.
In London, Burberry is working with London Youth, which supports a network of over 600 community youth organisations and creates thousands of engaging opportunities for young people each year. Fifteen youth centres jointly selected by Burberry and London Youth will receive grants to ensure their programmes can continue to make a positive impact in some of London's most deprived communities.
In Manchester meanwhile, Burberry is supporting Norbrook Youth Club and Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre, both youth centres that played a pivotal role in Rashford’s childhood. Youth volunteers from the two clubs will be coming together as part of the partnership to help charities in the Wythenshawe area where the clubs are based and Rashford grew up.
Alongside these youth centres, Burberry is contributing to Wide Rainbow, a non-profit based in New York City providing access to the arts and arts education in neighbourhoods across the United States with little to no resources. The donation will provide art supplies, food deliveries and music education to young people in these communities as well as fund the creation of art murals to invigorate schools and shelters in New York and Los Angeles.
In addition, Burberry is teaming with the International Youth Foundation to contribute to the Global Youth Resiliency Fund. This will enable young entrepreneurs and community leaders, especially in Asia, to develop solutions to challenges including closing nutrition gaps and unlocking access to livelihoods.
