TEAMWORK was the order of the day as Celtic FC Foundation and Utilita partnered to deliver the 2018 Summer Games, a fun filled four-week diversionary project based at Celtic Park.

Across July and August, the Utilita Summer Games worked with in the region of 65 young people who required extensive ongoing support during the school holidays.

On the final day of the project, there was a celebration event held at Celtic Park with parents and guardians invited to attend alongside our young participants. The event was part hosted by Utilita who presented Electric City, an energy themed workshop which allowed the children to create a cardboard city, lit with an electric bulb circuit.

The event included a ‘Glasgow’s Got Talent’ show and culminated in prizes and goodie bags for each participant. Each lucky attendee was also presented with two tickets for the Celtic v Hamilton Accies match last weekend.

Alongside three healthy meals per day, a host of fun and educational activities were provided across the Utilita Summer Games curriculum, including football, badminton and boxing, together with circus skills and music lessons.

A range of inflatable activities were also located around the Celtic Way for participants to enjoy throughout the project. As well as physical activities, personal development workshops supported participants in developing team-building and communication skills.

One day per week the programme was dedicated to a further 20 participants, who had been involved in the Autism and Down’s Syndrome strands of our award winning Ability Counts project.

Speaking on the success of the project, Tony Hamilton, Chief Executive at Celtic FC Foundation, said: “Providing this opportunity for so many children and young people is hugely important for us, and we now need to ensure that we can repeat it at other school holidays.

“Many of the kids involved benefit greatly from this initiative and we know of many more families who we would like to work with going forward.

“Thanks to Utilita for partnering with us and thanks to everyone who supports Celtic FC Foundation regularly. Your support genuinely makes a difference to people’s lives.”

Jem Maidment, Director of Marketing and Communications at Utilita, said: “The work that is carried out by the team at Celtic FC Foundation is incredible – some of the stories we have heard from the Utilita Summer Games have been awe-inspiring. We are proud to support such an iconic charity, who are changing lives in the East End of Glasgow and beyond.

“The Electric City proved to be a huge success – the participants thoroughly enjoyed learning about energy and lighting up their own homes. It’s great that such a simple concept can be fun and educational as well as being enjoyed by the whole family.”

The Utilita Summer Games ran at Celtic Park from July 10 until August 3, every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9.30am-3pm, for children between 8-14-years-old. For more information on future intakes, please contact [email protected] / 0141 551 4321.