• The ad sees Rashford joining Co-op staff and FareShare volunteers on a video call to encourage people to donate to the charity

  • The England forward has made significant personal donations to FareShare in the past

 

Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford has teamed up with the Co-op to star in its latest advertising campaign aimed at driving donations to food redistribution charity FareShare.

The England forward is a longstanding supporter of FareShare and has made significant personal donations in the past.

The new ad sees Rashford joining Co-op staff and FareShare volunteers on a video call to encourage people to donate to the charity. The ad, which went live online today and will feature on major TV channels from Thursday, is the second round of the campaign, originally launched by the Co-op before Easter.

For the first wave the Co-op gave up the advertising space it had booked for promoting its Easter confectionery range for the special FareShare ad. As of last week, it had so far driven over £600,000 worth of donations.

“This project is a personal one for me. We are working to keep food on the table for children like me 10 years ago – children who rely on free school meals,” said Rashford.

“Whilst that is my particular focus, FareShare is doing a great job of distributing food to a lot of other vulnerable people across the UK with the help of partners such as the Co-op. Being from Manchester, I was happy to offer my voice to the Co-op for this video campaign – coming together we are so much stronger.”

Co-op Food CEO Jo Whitfield added: “In this time of crisis, we are seeing our communities pull together to really show that a little co-operation by many, can make a big difference to support those who are struggling. We’re determined to do everything we can to support those getting food to those who are most vulnerable. Along with our customers and members we have donated monies and food to enable two million meals to be shared with those who need it most, but much more is needed.

“Food banks are a lifeline for those who rely on the donations to feed their families and demand for their services has seen a huge increase since the pandemic started. This is only set to grow as the number of people who unexpectedly find themselves without a regular income, or who are on a reduced income, gets higher.”

“We are grateful to Marcus for giving his time and influence to raise awareness of how easy we have made it to donate to the charity we both support.”

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