Opinion: Marcus Rashford's campaign against child poverty shows power of youth

Marcus Rashford is doing a great job. He is successfully utilising the power of social media to raise awareness to directly tackle child poverty... and he has only been on the planet since 1997.

The undeniably bright, talented Manchester United forward, who was awarded an MBE for his work in helping vulnerable children during the Covid-19 crisis, forced a government U-turn in July when he won his battle to ensure free meals during school the summer holidays.

His Twitter timeline on Friday morning is hard to ignore . He has displayed a stream of messages from local businesses offering support to his free school meals campaign after MPs voted against extending the provision into the half-term and Christmas holidays.

Awareness is being raised and the issue is being tackled by communities across the country and beyond as a result of his actions. But it cannot be stressed enough that this is a 22-year-old man who has a full-time job and is still finding the time to face up to a tough human rights problem that many older and supposedly more experienced individuals than him - including those with similar followings - have silently cowered away from for generations.

Critics will fall back on the excuse that he lacks the education or maturity to know what goes on in economically deprived neighbourhoods across the UK. This, of course, is not true. Rashford grew up in Wythenshawe, Manchester and attended a primary school where the number of pupils receiving free school meals is twice the national average. As he has said himself, he has the education of witnessing child poverty first-hand and has gained specific knowledge and a degree of resilience from it.

During the Covid-19 pandemic people are on their phones more than ever and social media engagement is at an all-time high, no part down to social distancing. Rashford has proven tenfold he knows the digital space and is using his social media as a tool for driving change.

The world is becoming increasingly digital and numerous UK businesses are either struggling to keep up with the demands of the modern world and/or do not employ people - or give enough opportunities - to those who perhaps understand the power of technology better than they do.

Rashford’s philanthropy in 2020 is having a massive impact on the ground, but he is also reminding the masses that wisdom and know-how can come at any age and stage - including the 87th minute against Paris Saint-Germain.