With lockdown 2.0 and a divisive US Election looming, we all need a reason to be cheerful, or at least hopeful for the future; and it’s that optimism for the next generation that a new initiative from Burberry and Marcus Rashford MBE is championing. The heritage brand has teamed up with the footballer and activist to champion “the power of giving back”, with a newly announced joint pledge to support community organisations across the world.
Burberry, which has already committed to help Marcus’s work ending child food poverty in the UK — they donate to FareShare, which funds 200,000 meals distributed through 11,000 charities and community groups across Britain — will be furthering their support of youth organisations in Manchester and London, with a special focus on education and supporting young creative and artists.
In London, Burberry will work with London Youth, a network of 600 community youth organisations which helps create opportunities for young people in the capital. In Marcus’s hometown of Manchester, they’re teaming up with Norbrook Youth Club and Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centres, both organisations in the Wythenshawe area which the Manchester United player attended in his own childhood.
Marcus announced the partnership today with a poignant Instagram post addressed to his 10-year-old self. “I encourage you to dream,” the letter read, “because sometimes dreams are all you will have.” The post reflected on the resiliency and struggle which paved the way for his success, paid tribute to the youth clubs which played a pivotal role in the footballer’s formative years, and thanked Burberry for their commitment to “supporting centres that play such vital roles in stabilising childhoods”.
Burberry further announced today that outside the UK, they will support youth centres further afield, including Wide Rainbow, a NYC based non-profit which provides access to the arts and arts educations in deprived neighbourhoods across America. The donation, which comes along with a partnership with the International Youth Foundation to contribute to the Global Youth Resiliency fund, 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.
“Marcus Rashford MBE embodies the ethos of supporting community,” the brand said in a statement announcing the partnership today. “He is a pioneer, an innovator, a free-thinking trailblazer who harnesses his own achievements as a way to give back and nurture a new generation.”