Marcus Rashford launches Book Club to encourage 'every child' to read more

In an interview with The Sun, Marcus Rashford explained: "I wasn’t to know that it was a normal thing for somebody to be read a bedtime story. It’s something I’d only seen in films. But films are films, not reality.

"I just wish I was offered the opportunity to really engage with reading more as a child, but books were never a thing we could budget for as a family when we needed to put food on the table.

"My mum used to tell me stories and she’d make me laugh but we never had books to read together. I thought of books as part of school and that was it. There were times where the escapism of reading could have really helped me.

"I want this escapism for all children. Not just those that can afford it."

The Man United star goes on to add: "We know there are over 380,000 children across the UK today that have never owned a book, children that are in vulnerable environments. That has to change.

"My books are, and always will be, for every child, even if I have to deliver them myself. We will reach them."

The 23-year-old is partnering up with Macmillan Children’s Books to launch the Marcus Rashford Book Club while also working on a non-fiction book titled 'YOU ARE A CHAMPION: Unlock Your Potential, Find Your Voice and Be the BEST You Can Be'. It is expected to be published in May 2021.

By 2022, Rashford is also planning to write two fiction books for children above the age of seven.