As a giving partner of Manchester City FC’s “Cityzens Giving” initiative, Magic Bus was delighted to once again be invited to attend their annual Cityzens Giving Young Leader Summit for 2018. In attendance were Amar, Rojina and Jinat from Magic Bus India, and Jenson from Magic Bus UK. Read on to find out more about this fantastic event from Jenson!
The 4th Annual Cityzens Giving Young Leaders Summit just concluded, and I was fortunate enough to be invited there. 3 of the Young Leaders from the program, Amar, Rojina and Jinat, were also there as part of the Leadership Team during the summit. In partnership with Manchester City, Magic Bus runs a football-based program in Kolkata to tackle the issues of sanitation and health.
This year’s summit was represented by around 70 Young Leaders from 19 cities across the globe, where Manchester City partners with local community organisations in various Football based development programs. These leaders are youth coaches in cities such as Cape Coast, Manchester, Bandung, Baranquilla, Mexico City, Sao Paolo and many more.
Jenson & Amar representing India at the Youth Summit
The 5-day program was an awareness and a knowledge sharing program about City in The Community (CITC). CITC uses football in the greater Manchester area to address the Social Impact of football and puts a huge emphasis on Health, Inclusion, Disability and Education. It also does a lot more and delve into deeper issues. In South Africa, where 6 million people in the country is HIV Positive, CITC partners with Grassroot Soccer in Cape Town, where football is used to educate people and especially, young girls, about HIV/AIDS. And in Los Angeles, Man City has refurbished a football pitch at the local Boys and Girls Club of East Los Angeles to get local kids into playing football and educate them about healthy eating as well as prevent the intake of junk foods.
The whole summit gave an insight into what Manchester City as an organisation does in the community, not only in Manchester but all over the world. It also gives a bigger picture of what Man City is, which is more than just a football club.
If you want to support Magic Bus and our use of football, along with many other sports and games, as a tool for freeing children from poverty, please donate today.
Top: Youth Leaders taking part in a football training session
Bottom: Youth Leaders presenting their ideas on how football can bring change to their communities