Marcus Rashford praises No Bones for free school meals

The announcement from No Bones in Hastings comes after the Manchester United star’s bid to extend a scheme offering vulnerable children free school meals during the holidays until next Easter was out-voted in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Following the rejection of the proposal, Hastings-based vegan kitchen No Bones decided to take matters into its own hands, announcing on Facebook that it would be giving away free burgers to all school-aged children this Wednesday between noon and 2pm.

• READ MORE: This is how Sussex MPs voted on the free school meals extension proposal

“It isn’t much, but it’s one less meal to worry about this week,” the statement read.

And the generous act quickly caught the attention of England striker Rashford.

He gave it his seal of approval, sharing the post on Twitter this morning.

📍Hastings pic.twitter.com/fo5nX0iOs0

— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) October 23, 2020

It has already received more than 4,500 likes and been shared hundreds of times.

Dave Brady, the owner of No Bones, was made aware of Mr Rashford’s social media salute by a friend, and said his phone has not stopped ringing since.

The 30-year-old said: “After the vote we thought, ‘We don’t have a massive platform, but there must be something we can do’.”

“We threw a few ideas around and I wrote a Facebook post, and that was what we ended up putting out there.”

He said the response had been “unbelievable”, but it was the reaction from the community which was most important.

No Bones is currently based at The Prince Albert in Hastings

“Me giving one person a free burger won’t change the world,” he said.

“To me, it’s one tiny thing that we’ve done.

“But if everyone does something, a big difference will be made.

“I think it’s the idea, rather than the act itself, that people are really responding to.

“It’s about making sure people get the help they need, that they might have had if this vote had gone through.”

And this appears to be exactly what is happening in his hometown.

Dave said: “We have had businesses get in touch to say they want to cover other days of the week.

“Hopefully by next week (the October half term) children will have somewhere to go every day for some free food in our community.”

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has seen an outpouring of support from businesses after his bid to extend free school meals was defeated

No Bones will be offering free food to children of school age between noon and 2pm on Wednesday.

This was extended from 12-1pm after it quickly became apparent they could be in for a busy day.

No Bones is currently based at The Prince Albert in Brook Street, Hastings.

Oat drink company Oatly has also contacted No Bones, Dave said, and will be providing drinks and yoghurts to hand out with the burgers.