Manchester City kicks off third annual Cityzens Giving initiative
Melanie May | 18 November 2016 | News
Manchester City Football Club has relaunched its global charitable initiative Cityzens Giving, giving fans the chance to allocate £400,000 to community football projects across the world.
The programme funds community football projects run by young people, for young people, in cities around the world.
For the third year, the £400,000 commitment by City Football Group and its partners, will give fans the chance to vote for their favourite project out of six community football projects delivered in six cities around the world. Run by young leaders in Manchester, New York City, Melbourne, Mexico City, Beijing, and Bandung in Indonesia, the projects have been created to tackle issues affecting young people in their city including substance abuse, unemployment and disability inclusion.
Fans of Manchester City, New York City FC, and Melbourne City FC will decide how projects are funded by voting for the cause that inspires them the most, with the more votes a project gets, the more funding it receives.
This year’s projects are:
- Manchester: Back for its third year, Boots & Beats will continue to use football and music to engage with 400 unemployed young people and connect them with job related training and volunteering opportunities.
- New York: Combining football with education about health and nutrition, for the third year Healthy Hat-Trick will support 500 young people to improve their fitness and live healthier lives.
- Melbourne: Returning to the campaign for its third year, I Speak Football will use football to connect 400 isolated young people and support them to make friends, build leadership skills and reduce loneliness.
- Mexico City: Fútbol Matters will create a safe space for 400 children to play football, built by young leaders whilst teaching them skills to support their future employability.
- Bandung, Indonesia: Football for Change will engage 250 street children through regular football practice, providing education and services to prevent drug use and reduce the risk of HIV and AIDS.
- Beijing: Unified Schools uses the power of football to improve health, build friendships and create an inclusive environment for 1,900 children with and without intellectual disabilities.
City Football Group is also continuing to fund projects in São Paulo, Cape Coast in Ghana, Kolkata, Cape Town, Barranquilla and Kuala Lumpur, with Cityzens Giving now funding 12 projects in total worldwide.
City Football Group chief executive, Ferran Soriano said:
“Our Cityzens Giving initiative, now in its third year, gives our fans around the world the chance to empower young people through the universal language of football. So far, more than 16,000 children and young people in nine cities have benefitted from long-term community football projects funded by Cityzens Giving. In addition to funding, all projects access leading edge training in community football and opportunities to share learning about how they are using the football effect to tackle social issues.”
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Image: Yaya Toure visits Special Olympics project while on Manchester City’s pre-season tour of China
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.