Unit 8 Part 2- Promoting Public Health
Learning Aim C
Promotion
P5
Campaigns can be used to promote good health- they can motivate, educate and inform the
public on consequences of poor health as well as help them make the right choices to have
good health. Winter Fuel Payments and Housing Support are some examples of health
campaigns that are promoting good health; these are encouraging people and giving them
the opportunity to make decisions that will benefit their health.
Educational Programmes are a great way to promote health- they inform the public on what
decisions will affect their health and how to keep a healthy lifestyle. They educate people on
mental and physical health, provide healthy meals for students and encourage exercise every
week. By doing this, children can be taught about their health so when they are older, they
can make educated choices.
Free school meals were introduced to schools in 1941, children in need for food were able to
have free hot or cold lunches- in 2014, all infant aged children were able to have free school
meals and junior aged children in need of a free lunch also had access to this too. Recently
Marcus Rashford partnered with FareShare to raise and donate money to pay for school meals
for children all across the UK; he funded over 21 million meals for children and families through
the pandemic and after too. (Marcus Rashford Free School Meals Link 2023)
The idea behind free school meals is to allow children a healthy balanced diet, some parents
may not have the time to prepare nutritious lunches due to work or other factors such as ill-
health or commitments or they be unable to afford healthy foods and alternatives. Free school
meals not only allow children the same access to food, but they can reduce obesity, lessen the
risk of diabetes and help motivate better mental abilities therefore better academic
performances, improved behaviour and lifestyle choices. (Benefits of Free School Meals Link
2023)
To promote free school meals Marcus Rashford began a campaign to provide free school meals
to those that are disadvantaged. He spoke about his experiences as a child with food poverty-
how his mother struggled to put food on the table. He campaigned during the first lockdown
(April 2020) for the government to provide free school meals to eligible students over the
Easter holiday. He used social media to promote this movement, posting on Twitter and
Instagram. Each post on his Twitter feed highlighted a local business that was offering free
school meals. The government saw the benefits of this movement and extended the provision
for free school meals during the May half term too.
, Furthermore, Rashford continued to use social media to gain public support for free school
meals and the government then announced the Covid Summer Food Fund, to support children
who receive benefit-related free school meals.
M4
Overall, Marcus Rashford’s campaign for Free School Meals was more successful than he had
initially planned, not only was he successful in providing free school meals for children during
COVID-19 but he then furthered his campaign with the government to provide Free School
Meals during school holidays for those children that qualified. Rashford improved the lives of
nearly 1.7million children and ensured the government provided money for Free School Meals
across the whole of the UK, because of his campaigns, petitions and social influence the
government pledged £396million for school meals over Christmas and Easter holidays for those
children that met the criteria. (Marcus Rashford Success Link 2023)
Rashford wasn’t successful with his campaign, to begin with but after expanding his social
following, getting over 1million signatures on his petition and pledging his own money to fund
these meals kick started the government to introduce a Free School Meals Policy. His methods
of using social media, tv and his football career seemed very successful as he was able to reach
millions of people and raise awareness for those children living in poverty- he was able to
highlight his childhood in poverty to reach out to those families who can donate and for those
that don’t have enough to donate he was able to promote the petition. By using a combination
of social media, his celebrity status, his childhood poverty experiences and a petition he was
able to reach millions of people and change the government's decision on Free School Meals
therefore benefiting millions of children’s lives and promoting better health for those that need
it.
Despite Rashford’s efforts, there are still over 4million children in food poverty, this has
doubled over the last year. The pressure on the government has increased massively since
Marcus Rashford began his campaign. He has been successful with promoting awareness for
food poverty and promoting Free School Meals.
D2
Marcus Rashford promoted socioeconomic support; he provided financial support to thousands
of people and reduced the financial divide between families that can’t afford food and families
that can. He donated money to go towards 750,000 school meals (alongside Tom Kerridge). His
plea for promoting socioeconomic support was very successful; he worked with FareShare and
enabled this charity to give over 21 million meals to children who might not be able to afford
meals. His campaign against child poverty helped to diminish the financial divide very well- he
used hashtags (#maketheuturn) to encourage people to sign the petition for free school meals
as well as this, he used his childhood poverty experiences to help reduce the stigma around
asking for financial help and used his social media platform and his famous status to influence
other people to sign the petitions and donate if they can.
Learning Aim C
Promotion
P5
Campaigns can be used to promote good health- they can motivate, educate and inform the
public on consequences of poor health as well as help them make the right choices to have
good health. Winter Fuel Payments and Housing Support are some examples of health
campaigns that are promoting good health; these are encouraging people and giving them
the opportunity to make decisions that will benefit their health.
Educational Programmes are a great way to promote health- they inform the public on what
decisions will affect their health and how to keep a healthy lifestyle. They educate people on
mental and physical health, provide healthy meals for students and encourage exercise every
week. By doing this, children can be taught about their health so when they are older, they
can make educated choices.
Free school meals were introduced to schools in 1941, children in need for food were able to
have free hot or cold lunches- in 2014, all infant aged children were able to have free school
meals and junior aged children in need of a free lunch also had access to this too. Recently
Marcus Rashford partnered with FareShare to raise and donate money to pay for school meals
for children all across the UK; he funded over 21 million meals for children and families through
the pandemic and after too. (Marcus Rashford Free School Meals Link 2023)
The idea behind free school meals is to allow children a healthy balanced diet, some parents
may not have the time to prepare nutritious lunches due to work or other factors such as ill-
health or commitments or they be unable to afford healthy foods and alternatives. Free school
meals not only allow children the same access to food, but they can reduce obesity, lessen the
risk of diabetes and help motivate better mental abilities therefore better academic
performances, improved behaviour and lifestyle choices. (Benefits of Free School Meals Link
2023)
To promote free school meals Marcus Rashford began a campaign to provide free school meals
to those that are disadvantaged. He spoke about his experiences as a child with food poverty-
how his mother struggled to put food on the table. He campaigned during the first lockdown
(April 2020) for the government to provide free school meals to eligible students over the
Easter holiday. He used social media to promote this movement, posting on Twitter and
Instagram. Each post on his Twitter feed highlighted a local business that was offering free
school meals. The government saw the benefits of this movement and extended the provision
for free school meals during the May half term too.
, Furthermore, Rashford continued to use social media to gain public support for free school
meals and the government then announced the Covid Summer Food Fund, to support children
who receive benefit-related free school meals.
M4
Overall, Marcus Rashford’s campaign for Free School Meals was more successful than he had
initially planned, not only was he successful in providing free school meals for children during
COVID-19 but he then furthered his campaign with the government to provide Free School
Meals during school holidays for those children that qualified. Rashford improved the lives of
nearly 1.7million children and ensured the government provided money for Free School Meals
across the whole of the UK, because of his campaigns, petitions and social influence the
government pledged £396million for school meals over Christmas and Easter holidays for those
children that met the criteria. (Marcus Rashford Success Link 2023)
Rashford wasn’t successful with his campaign, to begin with but after expanding his social
following, getting over 1million signatures on his petition and pledging his own money to fund
these meals kick started the government to introduce a Free School Meals Policy. His methods
of using social media, tv and his football career seemed very successful as he was able to reach
millions of people and raise awareness for those children living in poverty- he was able to
highlight his childhood in poverty to reach out to those families who can donate and for those
that don’t have enough to donate he was able to promote the petition. By using a combination
of social media, his celebrity status, his childhood poverty experiences and a petition he was
able to reach millions of people and change the government's decision on Free School Meals
therefore benefiting millions of children’s lives and promoting better health for those that need
it.
Despite Rashford’s efforts, there are still over 4million children in food poverty, this has
doubled over the last year. The pressure on the government has increased massively since
Marcus Rashford began his campaign. He has been successful with promoting awareness for
food poverty and promoting Free School Meals.
D2
Marcus Rashford promoted socioeconomic support; he provided financial support to thousands
of people and reduced the financial divide between families that can’t afford food and families
that can. He donated money to go towards 750,000 school meals (alongside Tom Kerridge). His
plea for promoting socioeconomic support was very successful; he worked with FareShare and
enabled this charity to give over 21 million meals to children who might not be able to afford
meals. His campaign against child poverty helped to diminish the financial divide very well- he
used hashtags (#maketheuturn) to encourage people to sign the petition for free school meals
as well as this, he used his childhood poverty experiences to help reduce the stigma around
asking for financial help and used his social media platform and his famous status to influence
other people to sign the petitions and donate if they can.
