The ‘More Than A Game’ campaign highlights how Premier League funding and club community programme delivery positively impacts the lives of millions.
To celebrate the campaign and its message, all club charities were asked to nominate a Community Captain who demonstrates a commitment to their club and/or community.
CITC nominated Kicks Coach, Melvyn McDonald, as its Community Captain as part of the celebration.
Melvyn joined City in the Community over 12 years ago.
As a youth mentor from Moss Side, he was encouraged by the charity’s now Life President, Alex Williams MBE to get involved in the Premier League Kicks provision, delivering football and youth engagement sessions to youth across Manchester.
Thanks to Alex’s encouragement, Melvyn became a part-time Kicks Lead Coach working across many of the core CITC Kicks sessions including, Levenshulme, Gorton and Moss Side, where his initial journey with the charity started.
Over the years, Melvyn has continued in lead on some of the busiest Kicks sessions, developing key relationships with minority participants, allowing for participants to overcome barriers to participation, as well as guiding participants through pro-social activities, making him a key community worker.
Lisa McKay, Head of Operations nominated Melvyn for the award, saying: “Melvyn is an embodiment of City in the Community values.
“Over the years he has not only been a role model for participants, but for other staff as well, providing a great positive influence on the Kicks team.
“He has used his experience and relatability to strengthen the link between CITC and the community through his passion and drive to care for what is happening in the lives of young people and finding ways to tackle the issues they face daily.
“He truly deserves this award and recognition.”
Melvyn was surprised earlier in the week by Lisa and former Manchester City player, Nedum Onuoha, who presented the award to him during a Kicks session at Moss Side Leisure Centre.
Melvyn’s achievement was further celebrated during the session by the participants he works with each week and has done as part of the Kicks programme for the last 12 years.
Discussing what the award means to him, Melvyn said: “When Lisa was telling me this was all for me, I was just trying to process it all. I didn’t have any clue, didn’t think anything of it, I just thought it was a random photoshoot.
“Coming in and seeing this today, it’s just a reminder of the years of work and commitment to young people in the community.
“To see all the participants clapping and cheering me, it means a lot. I don’t think it’s sunk it.”
In 2017 Melvyn was nominated for the Premier League Kicks Heros campaign which helped to celebrate 10 years of Kicks and a comic strip of his journey on Kicks was presented to him by the then Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling.
Now, Melvyn’s receives his new award within the 20th anniversary year of the Premier League Kicks programme. The City in the Community Moss Side session was one of the first sites to host a Kicks session almost 20 years ago.
The Premier League’s ‘More Than a Game’ campaign was launched on 12 March, and it will run until 22 March.
‘More Than A Game’ showcases the Premier League’s long-standing commitment to supporting the community activity of clubs at all levels of the game, as well as investing in other areas including the non-league system, grassroots facilities and women’s and girls’ football.
It also provides an opportunity to celebrate the 2.5 million people who have participated in Premier League-funded community programmes that are run by Premier League, EFL and National League clubs.
Extended thanks to Harvey Mountford for photography support on the project.
City in the Community empowers healthier lives with city youth through football.
To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/CITC or follow the charity on social media @CITCmancity.
