Lily, who takes part in the City Thrive programme sat down, with Katie to discuss her experience and how City Thrive helps her to deal with the stresses of education.
Talking to Katie, Lily said: “I have a mentor as part of the programme. She does football with me and if I’m feeling a bit worried or stressed, she talks to me to help me figure out what I can do to feel better.
“If you’re really stressed out, it [the programme] can put your mind at ease, or it can help you find ways to resolve why you’re stressed or why are feeling a bit upset that day.”
CITC’s mental health provision is split into two areas, City Thrive and Primary Care Network (PCN) Mentoring.
City Thrive has been delivered by CITC since 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and works closely with the NHS, RMCH CAMHS and Primary Care Networks across Greater Manchester.
The programme aims to promote positive mental health for young people aged seven to 18.
Sessions harness the power of football to normalise stigmatised conversations around mental health subjects through a mixture of educational workshops and one-to-one mentoring.
A dedicated team developed a mental health curriculum, combining specially adapted football sessions with one-to-one mentoring and group workshops on mental health awareness to improve mental wellbeing.
Community Mentoring Manager, Jason El-Kaleh, said: “Opportunities like this for our participants are fantastic reminder of the power that football can have in empowering healthy lives.
“CITC’s PCN Mentoring offer works closely with RMCH CAMHS and M-Thrive practitioners, based within GPs, to offer a holistic mentoring offer centred around positive mental wellbeing outcomes.
“This integrated approach to community care has broken new ground in the sector, and the provision continues to go from strength to strength as CITC mentors continue to have a positive impact on the lives of participants across Greater Manchester.”
During the 2023/2024 delivery year, CITC worked with 816 unique participants across 386 sessions of City Thrive.
The PCN mentoring programme, in partnership with the NHS, RMCH CAMHS, is for young people aged between eight to 18 who present with mild to moderate mental health needs.
The mentoring offer involves eight to 10 weeks of one-to-one mentoring, providing support and guidance to achieve a positive mental health outcome for each young person.
During the 2023/2024 season CITC worked with 27 unique participants, during 208 sessions as part of their PCN mentoring programme.
With thanks to the NHS for their support of City in the Community’s work.
If you have been impacted by any of the content in this post and wish to reach out, please contact your GP for further support.
If you would like to support CITC and its work, you can do so through the CITC Prize Draw which offers fans around the world* the opportunity to get their hands on signed player shirts, match tickets, cash prizes and much more each month for just £5 a ticket.
To enter the draw or find out more information, visit: www.mancity.com/citcprizedraw
City in the Community empowers healthier lives with city youth through football. To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/citc or follow @citcmancity.
*Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Qatar, Lebanon, and North Korea are the only excluded countries from the prize draw.
