Demonstrating the unifying power of the beautiful game, young people from our Cityzens Giving projects around the world hosted a football festival for local school children as they put into practice everything they had learnt throughout the week.
More than 100 students from Crossacres Primary School took part, with different cultures coming together to make this a memorable event for all.
Leaders from our Cape Town project kicked the festival off in style as the Manchester students got to grips with a traditional South African KILO (chant), before the Kolkata project took over with their own energizer.
Designed to test their leadership and coaching skills, the young leaders successfully delivered a variety of football activities which highlighted how much they had learnt during the weeklong programme.
Stephanie, from the Colombian project Fútbol Con Corazón (Football with Heart), was delighted to have been given the opportunity to participate in the Summit.
She said: “It’s been important to see how football is being used in different countries, but the main thing is that we’ve grown individually as a person. And when you do that, you make others around you grow as well”.
The young leaders will now look to utilise the skills they have learnt for the benefit of their own communities and having spent time with them, MCWFC star Toni Duggan was impressed with their commitment to helping others.
She said: “City have brought together a group of young people who all have the power to make a difference through football and it’s a pleasure to be a part of it.
“The leaders have become role models in their communities and it’s great that they’ve been able to come to Manchester and develop their skills in a supportive environment.”
