Marcus Rashford gave a stirring speech on what made him think about coming forward to campaign for feeding all children at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Sunday, where he was given a special panel recognition.

Earlier in the year, Rashford had successfully pressured the British government to provide free meals for schoolchildren. His campaign to feed children has been appreciated widely and he was awarded an MBE following his recent campaign which saw the government change their minds on providing free school meals for children during holidays.

Rashford’s campaign for free school meals: How the Man Utd star made a difference to people in need

“Growing up as a kid I felt if it was a 100 metre race I started 50 metres behind everybody else,” Rashford said.

“It was more difficult for me to do the basic things like getting to training, eating the right things, it was a nightmare of a situation to be in, but in the end I got to where I needed to get to.

“Once I got there I just had this thing that eats at me saying, ‘Make sure you make a difference for the next generation’. I think as a country we should protect them as much as we can and give them the best chance at life and [to] become whatever it is they want to become.”

Watch the speech here:

In the week of his 23rd birthday in November, Rashford scored his first career hat-trick in a 5-0 thrashing of RB Leipzig in the Champions League, and then gained the support of over one million signatures in a petition to try and extend free school meals during half-term holidays and inspired thousands of volunteers across the country to step into the breach when parliament did not intervene.

After his campaign had forced a government U-turn over free school meals over the summer holidays, Rashford has formed a taskforce with major food suppliers, which is helping to provide over seven million meals per week for those in need.

(With AFP inputs)