Playing it forward

I can't begin to know what it's like to be a Premier League footballer. I'm not sure that I'd want to: I wasn't very good at sport (I couldn't catch so much as a cold, never mind a ball) and the life of a top-flight footballer seems to revolve around nightclubs and providing fodder for tabloid headline writers, with a sprinkling of training and high-pressure games to negotiate as well.

But even if I had a sizzling second touch, and had at my disposal the garden of earthly delights that seems to be offered to gifted young footballers today, I'm not sure that I'd have shown the initiative that Manchester United's Marcus Rashford has over the last few months. 

Firstly, when the lockdown got under way in the UK, the 22-year-old teamed up with a charity and helped raise £20million towards ensuring that children who were missing out on school dinners would continue to be fed. Then when the UK government moved to discontinue its own school dinners scheme for the summer, Rashford put his head above the parapet and penned an open letter to the UK government, appealing for them to have a rethink. It worked: the British government reversed its decision.

As much as we criticise the cossetted young men who soak up the advantages of being young, talented and working in an industry that's awash with cash, isn't it wonderful when they defy our expectations and take a leadership role on an issue that affects thousands of vulnerable people.

Rashford shows that we can support worthy causes by giving money...and also by speaking out and putting pressure on people with the power to change things.

I doubt I'll ever find myself with a bank balance to match that of a Premier League star but as a citizen I can send an email or two to a public representative, I can make my feelings on an issue known to people in power, I can even ping a few euro to a reputable charity that has researched the area and is campaigning to effect change.

There's a feeling abroad right now that real change is possible. Our daily lives are clear of many of the distractions that usually clutter our thinking. Wouldn't it be good to use that mental clarity for good? And to carry that impulse into the weeks, months and years ahead instead of allowing ourselves to slip back into our old lives of working to live and living to work?

So, if you had vast reserves of financial wealth and social cachet, what would you do with your good fortune? After taking care of your loved ones, what causes can you support in the interest of transforming the world around us? And if you've been lucky enough to emerge relatively unscathed after the recent pandemic lockdown, how are you going to take your good fortune and pay it forward?