Manchester City FC – shortlisted for the ECA CSR Award 2017

Manchester City FC – shortlisted for the ECA CSR Award 2017

Recently, the ECA presented the shortlisted projects for the ECA Awards 2017. One of the 9 clubs nominated for the ‘Best Community and Social Responsibility Programme’ is Manchester City with their programme “City Health”.

Until the #ECAAward Ceremony on 4th September in Geneva, EFDN will present each day one of the shortlisted projects to highlight the impact, the clubs and their foundations are having in their local communities. The last days, we have already introduced the projects of KAA Gent, GNK Dinamo and Everton FC.

Manchester City – “City Health”

Since the Club’s inception in 1894, Manchester City has used the positive power of football to create opportunities for its local community.

The city of Manchester faces many social challenges, particularly around health. 25% of children entering primary school (aged 4 and up) are considered overweight and/or obese, with several factors including lifestyle, diet and activity key contributors to this growing statistic.

Manchester City ’s foundation, City in the Community, identified the opportunity to use 30 years of community football expertise to tackle this growing problem, helping to give Manchester kids a better shot at life.

Project objectives:

• To use football, the club, and players, to inspire local children to be more active.
• To engage children and parents in how to make more informed, healthier lifestyle choices.
• To raise awareness of increasing obesity levels in Manchester.

Project description:

The two key programmes of Manchester City delivered as part of the City Health project include:

• City Lifestyles – families are invited by their children’s primary school to take part in the six-week practical programme. City Lifestyles aims to improve parents’ awareness around the importance of shopping and cooking to enable them to feed their families nutritiously on tight financial and time restraints. Interactive cooking tasks and activities are undertaken by participants, while children are encouraged to explore and develop their creativity.

• City Play – provides weekly fun and engaging sessions for two to five-year-olds. Focusing on a variety of different fundamental movements and skills (jumping, hopping, skipping and running), City Play enhances children’s coordination, stability and object control. The aim is to equip children with the skills to enjoy being physically active and lead a healthy lifestyle from a young age.

Last season (September 2016 – June 2017), the City Health project of Manchester City delivered 3,419 sessions totalling 3,833 hours, taught 874 practical cooking sessions to 502 individual families, and engaged 4,271 children in regular physical activity from across 166 nurseries and pre-schools in Manchester.
Of the 502 families who engaged with the City Lifestyles programme, 94% of parents have since reported being able to cook a range of healthy and balanced meals from scratch. 96% of families are now cooking meals together at least once a week.

One school commented on the programme, “Your contribution has been invaluable. Each week, I have seen some of our most vulnerable families come into school and participate in your sessions with enthusiasm. We have had lots of positive feedback and the children have loved it too!”

One local family added, “This has been a fantastic programme to be part of and it has had a big impact on our lives. It’s given us the tools and knowledge to make informed choices about our lifestyles and healthy living. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and spending time together to cook as a family has been great. I didn’t expect to have gained so much from 6 weeks.”

Since starting its delivery of City Play sessions to 4,271 children across Manchester, City in the Community has recorded a significant improvement to the participant’s fundamental movements and skills. 80% of children on the programme demonstrated a recognisable improvement to both their understanding and communication.

Looking ahead, the City Play programme will be delivering a resource pack for nursery staff that aims to provide different ideas of implementing physical activity sessions. The resource pack will include different plans, ideas and resources to help develop the provision of physical activity within nurseries and continue to encourage children and parents across Manchester to make more informed, healthier lifestyle choices.

The City Health project is currently funded by the Premier League, Big Lottery, Blue Moon Rising Group and The Professional Footballers Association Charitable Fund.