DC09-39 FEBRUARY 5, 2009
P HO T O C A L L
Manchester uses BT partnership with Footballl Foundation to promote fitness
‘Communicating for Success’ to deliver inclusive ICT learning across Manchester city schools;
Micah Richards and Martin Keown put city youngsters through their paces at today’s launch
EVENT: Manchester City’s Micah Richards will be teaming up with pupils at St Paul’s Primary School, to kick off Communicating for Success.
Joining them will be former England defender and television pundit, Martin Keown, the ambassador for the BT and Football Foundation partnership, who will be helping the youngsters to showcase their football and ICT skills.
DATE: Thursday, February 5, 2009 TIME: 2pm.
VENUE: St Paul’s Church of England Primary School, St Paul’s Road, Withington, South Manchester, M20 4PG.
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The power of football is to be used to improve the computer skills and promote the fitness of children in Manchester.
Hundreds of city youngsters are being given the opportunity to get to grips with the latest technology and develop their sporting skills thanks to the £1 million UK-wide Communicating for Success programme, spearheaded by BT and the Football Foundation.
Manchester City Football Club’s registered charity, City in the Community, is leading the local initiative which will also involve the 3 Manchester Playing for Success study centres partnered with MCFC and Sale Harriers Athletic Club.
It is one of 12 new projects funded by BT and the Football Foundation, working with sporting organisations across the UK to bring the benefits of sport and technology closer to the local communities where they are based. The partnership programme has been hailed by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, as ‘exciting and innovative’.
In Manchester, it will focus on helping young people aged 10 and 11 to use a variety of information and communications technology (ICT) resources to develop a programme of activities highlighting the importance of healthy eating and fitness to younger children at their own schools.
The project kicks off during the February half-term holiday at six schools and the three Playing for Success study support centres, with three-day sessions also planned at an additional 12 schools over Easter and during the May half-term holidays, as well as at all the participating schools’ after-school clubs.
City in the Community coaches from Manchester City Football Club will be helping develop the sport and health programme. It will include using computer software tools like Powerpoint and developing video and editing skills to compile a DVD, explaining to six and seven year olds the importance of healthy eating and fitness.
Football and other sporting skills picked up during fitness sessions with the coaches will also be incorporated into their educational programmes.
Each of the participating pupils will receive a commemorative medal and sports equipment for their school.
It is expected around 350 pupils from 20 schools across South, North East and central Manchester will benefit over the next six months, experiencing a total of more than 3,600 hours of learning, sport and fun, thanks to Communicating for Success.
Mike Blackburn, BT’s North West regional director, said: “BT is determined to support the development of IT literacy and help people of all ages and abilities prosper through confidence with communications, computers and the internet.
“The plans here in Manchester are extremely exciting and will make an important contribution to helping us achieve this goal, while delivering against a very real issue in tackling obesity.
“The Football Foundation has worked with us to develop Communicating for Success, combining the attraction of our national game and other sports with learning, to help people to develop skills in ways they have not experienced before. This partnership is a great complement to BT’s 2012 Olympic sponsorship as well as the BT Paralympic World Cup here in Manchester, and we shall bring elements of them together over the course of the programme to foster learning.”
Paul Thorogood, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said:
“This partnership will enable communities to harness the power of both football and communications to ensure that those involved become equipped with life-enhancing ICT skills.
“The Manchester project will also use the appeal of football to deliver important messages on healthy lifestyles to hundreds of youngsters from across the city.”
Alex Williams, executive manager of City in the Community said: “CITC is delighted to be working in partnership to deliver this new exciting project – we are very grateful to both BT and the Football Foundation for their support.”
Today’s launch follows a successful pilot last term involving children from St Paul’s Church of England Primary School and Birchfields Primary School.
Mr Don Berry, head teacher at St Paul’s Primary School said: “Not only is this programme an imaginative way of conveying valuable messages about health and fitness, we welcome the way it encourages older children to take on the responsibility of sharing their learning with younger children, and at the same time helping them to develop presentation skills which will boost their self-confidence.”
Note to Editors
Communicating for Success is part of a national programme into which BT is making an initial first-year investment of £500,000, which will be matched by the Football Foundation, the UK’s largest sports charity.
In the first year, the CfS programme will work with a number of support centres across the country. In addition to Manchester, participating areas include:
Doncaster, Sheffield, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, West Bromwich, Glasgow and the London Borough of Newham.
The Manchester project aims to raise the awareness of the long-term impact of healthy diet and exercise among children. The Health Summary for Manchester indicates the percentage of obese primary-aged children in the city is significantly higher than the average for England.
