Gary Neville says access to high quality education ‘shouldn’t be dependent on your post code’

Former Manchester United footballer Gary Neville has spoken about the motivation behind his newly launched university scheme.

Sitting down with ITV Granada Reports, Neville explained that his scheme will be aimed at young people between the ages of seventeen and twenty who have been eligible for free school dinners and may never have thought they’d get the opportunity to go to university.

The scheme will offer a free £5,000 support package of education essentials and will help with travel for the three years that they attend university, as well as provide a laptop and unlimited data.

It also offers lunch vouchers for fifty-two weeks of the year and vouchers to buy home essentials.

ITV Granada

Speaking about the ongoing poverty that spurred the launch of his scheme, however, Neville said he is ‘ashamed’ to be in a country where families are still forced to choose between heating and eating, and described the government’s recent decision to cut Universal Credit by £20 as ‘ridiculous’.

He said: “As far as I can see those economic problems haven’t ended so I don’t know why the universal credit is being taken away.

“It is a ridiculous decision as this moment in time, just as we’re starting to come out of a pandemic.”

And, speaking on why he felt the need to act in the first place, Neville said all the faith he once had in the government has been lost.

@Number 10 / Flickr

He said: “My reliance on government to do the right thing is lost – that’s my own personal opinion. However what we can do in the private sector, and in other institutions, is do our very best.

“I think that’s what we’re trying to do here is to put packages in place that support young people and give them the option to go to university. I can’t believe I’m saying that because it should be the choice for everybody.

“It shouldn’t be dependent on your post code as to whether you get high quality to education or access to education.”