Manchester United star Marcus Rashford delighted young fans in Fife as the special guest during a Zoom session organised by the Cottage Family Centre.
The footballer has made a huge impact by campaigning on child poverty and extending free school meals and on Tuesday night he brought his work to Scotland for the first time, speaking to almost 200 children from around Kirkcaldy.
Children involved with Templehall United Football Club, Kirkcaldy Foodbank and Raith Rovers Community Club were all involved after the Cottage Centre’s patron and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown helped to arrange the call.
Man Utd star ‘inspiring’ Fife children
Pauline Buchan, strategic manager at the centre, said the session was “inspiring” for the children.
“We work to help those struggling in the area with a lot of children living in Kirkcaldy being in poverty,” she said.
“When we realised that Marcus Rashford shares a lot of the same core values as us we thought it would be great to get in touch with him and get some of the local children involved too.
“A lot of the children in our area have had a similar upbringing to Marcus so I think it was fantastic for them to hear his story now that he has such success. It showed them that with hard work they can go on and do whatever they want, no matter what their upbringing is.”
‘A remarkable young man’
And it wasn’t just the youngsters who were won over by the Manchester United star’s performance.
“He really is a remarkable young man,” said Pauline.
“I have never talked to such a lovely guy. He was so down to earth and answered every question that was given to him.
“You could see it meant the world to the children involved as well, they were grinning from ear to ear as soon as he came on the screen.”
She said the centre hoped to continue working in partnership with Rashford and praised Mr Brown for arranging the visit.
Wayne Carroll, chairman of Raith Rovers Community Club, said: “The Zoom call meant a huge amount to the kids involved. He is obviously very well known to most of the kids and they had the biggest smiles on their faces.
“Marcus has probably gone through more than his fair share in life even though he is only 23 and with Kirkcaldy having such a high level of child poverty it was just fantastic that he took the time to out to talk to the children and answer all their questions.
“He is doing an incredible job at campaigning against poverty at the minute and if you heard the amount of thank yous he received at the end of the call when everyone’s mic was unmuted you would see how much it meant to everyone.
“It had to be the loudest thank you I have ever heard.”