From Participants to Lead Coaches
CITC our very proud of our Cohesion projects and the positive impacts that they have on the communities we work in. Through our Cohesion projects we have also had some great success stories of local people progressing from participant to employee.
The latest example of the story of cousins Graham and Nicholas Phillips from Fallowfield, both were participants at the evening project Kickz at Platt Lane. As the pair got too old to be participants at the sessions they continued to attend as volunteers helping out with the next generation of local young people.
As a progression from volunteering they have both now become paid part-time members of staff working at Platt Lane and more recently running a new project called ‘City Street’ - a Friday evening provision of football and girls boxing/ self-defence at Wright Robinson Sports College in Gorton.
Graham has recently been nominated for Volunteer of the Year at the National Kickz Awards 2013 and when he was interviewed by City TV recently he commented; “It was a bit tough growing up in Fallowfield, there were quite a few gangs, few shootings and that kind of thing and I wasn’t into that when I was young. I just wanted to go out with my mates, go and play football that kind of thing. I just wanted to get on with my life. I wanted to make something of my life.”
“It’s good that City actually recognise what young people are about, getting them involved not just come down to our sessions, they wanted to give them opportunities, they wanted to move them up via voluntary work or even giving them paid work. It’s probably the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life, to work for a team that I also support it’s fantastic! I would urge anybody out there who is to get in touch with City and come down and volunteer, show your face and believe me you’ll be rewarded”.
Nicholas added; “I just stuck to doing things for myself and working, football kind of helped me with that, with the Kickz project and things like that.” Reflecting on the impact the project has on young people, “getting them involved in the sessions, keeping them off the streets, just basically keeping them out of trouble, potentially they could be out there causing harm to themselves or to others”.
For more information on any of City in the Community’s ‘Community Cohesion’ projects please visit mcfc.co.ul/community, email Craig.bell@mcfc.co.uk, or call 0161 438 7710.
