CITC’s City Play participants from Tiddlywinks Nursery sat down for an afternoon of arts and craft where they decorated Christmas cards to share with other CITC participants.
After creation the cards were hand delivered by some of the City Play children themselves, to the participants at CITC’s Senior Party and during ReminisCITY sessions at local care homes.
Cards were also delivered to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.
The project aims to spread Christmas cheer and togetherness from together CITC’s youngest to its oldest participants.
Family Engagement Officer, Carl Burke, commented on the project saying: “It’s a nice gesture for us to try and provide something to people who might not receive anything this Christmas.
“It’s also really nice for the children to be able to be involved and understand the positivity that can come from doing something kind.”
Community Mentoring Officer, Marcus Matthews, also commented on why this initiative is so special to the older participants, saying: “This means a lot to the people that we work with in and around the care homes at the ReminisCITY sessions.
“Sometimes it can be quite isolating for them, so seeing the young faces brings a smile to their faces, and it’s one of my highlights of the party.”
CITC’s Senior Party invites participants from both its ReminisCITY and Walking Football programmes to come together to enjoy a festive dinner followed by a sing and a dance at the Etihad Stadium.
CITC’s ReminisCITY programme is a free reminiscent programme for individuals with a diagnosis of Dementia as well as their carers and family members.
It provides a safe space for participants to build up relationships whilst utilising football to help them, their carers and family members engage in a range of memory sharing activities.
CITC’s Walking Football programme provides two sessions per week, aimed at engaging older participants in regular physical activity.
By coming to the sessions, participants can meet others and build social relationships. Some individuals come to the sessions for the social interaction specifically as this is the only place that they have someone to talk to.
City Play is a bespoke Early Years programme which provides physical activity sessions for young children ages 2-5 in nurseries and reception settings
Each session is delivered in a fun, engaging and inclusive environment and aims to support a child’s physical development and progressive fundamental movement skill development.
To find out more about any of CITC’s programmes, visit: mancity.com/citc
Support City in the Community’s work this Christmas through Manchester City’s ‘Christmas Together’ campaign.
The ‘Christmas Together’ campaign creates an opportunity for fans to team up with the Club to support ‘City Onside’. For every purchase a fan makes from a range of selected retail items, the Club will donate £5 to its charity*.
Manchester City is also matching any donations* made to the charity through the ‘City in the Community Prize Draw’, meaning fans can double their chances to win amazing prizes.
Entries start at £5 per ticket; supporters can enter on a one-off basis, or they can sign up to a direct debit, meaning they enter the monthly draw automatically.
To take part in the prize draw, or to find out more, visit: www.mancity.com/citcprizedraw.
For more information about ‘Christmas Together’ visit www.mancity.com/ChristmasTogether.
City in the Community empowers healthier lives through football.
To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/citc or follow @citcmancity on social media.
*MCFC will donate £5 for each product** sold and will match donations made to Manchester City F.C. City in the Community Foundation (registered charity no. 1139229) during the period of 04 November 2025 to 31 December 2025 up to a maximum of £75,000 in total.
The first £150,000 raised will support City in the Community’s ‘City Onside’ programme, with any additional fundraising helping to sustain the charity’s broader purpose of empowering healthier lives with city youth through football.
