Footballer and campaigner Marcus Rashford has thanked the artist behind a mural of him, which resides on a wall near to where he grew up in Withington.

Akse, the street artist and creator of the Rashford mural, which sits on the side of a Coffee House has said the England and Manchester United star’s recent campaign to extend free school meals to underprivileged children inspired the project.

To express his gratitude, Rashford tweeted an image of the finished mural with a “thank you”.

The mural, based on a photograph by Daniel Cheetham, was done in collaboration with Withington Walls, a community street art project.

Rashford’s mum provided the quote on the mural, which reads: “Take pride in knowing that your struggle will play the biggest role in your purpose.”

Ed Wellard of Withington Walls said, “It’s incredible,” “Akse is a world-class artist but it’s exceeded my expectations. It is amazing.”

Speaking about his latest work Akse said, “I hope the mural will inspire the local community as he has inspired the whole nation with his campaign to fight child food poverty.”

Following Rashford’s relentless campaigning, the UK government announced it was to spend more than £400 million on a winter grant scheme to support less fortunate children and their families in England.

It follows the footballer’s campaign in the summer, which led to the government making and dramatic U-turn on its policy and allowing children to claim free meals during the summer break.

Rashford became an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list last month.

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