Naomi Woodcock, Author at Citywise

A partnership that changed everything

(2 minute read) It’s not everyday that character-development experts from the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, choose you for a prestigious grant and two-year partnership. But in 2018, that’s exactly what happened to us, and we’ve spoken a lot about it since then (wouldn’t you?). That’s because it has helped […]

Overcoming the drop

Have you ever set yourself a goal, started with great enthusiasm but quickly hit a snag in the road? A distraction, a difficult experience, the feeling of failure, or creeping self doubt can pull you off track from where you were heading. We understand this as the drop, and if you’re familiar with it, you’re […]

A world of adventures!

(2 minute read) Explore a whole new world of stories, adventure and wonder with your child for World Book Day on Thursday 4th March! Reading with your child can help them become more confident, it stimulates their imagination and helps them develop valuable language and listening skills. It can even give them a love of […]

New February Half Term Camp and Weekly After-School Mentoring Club

21 Jan 2021 **THE HALF TERM CAMP IS NOW FULL** We’re so pleased to be able to offer new activities and groups to children aged 8-12 in Manchester starting in February! Take a look through the details, and please sign your children up using the link. Any of the older children in our Citywise community […]

Nurture Kindness

(1 minute read) We all love being on the receiving end of kindness. A kind word, a friendly smile or help before we’ve even asked for it. Scientists love to talk about the ‘ripple effect’ and how one simple act of kindness can spark another, and another, and another! Kindness can take courage. It can […]

Wholesome Homemade Pizza!

When that urge for pizza hits, but you’re looking for a healthier and hands-on way to enjoy it, look no further! We’re passionate about families and we recently gave this recipe and all the ingredients to lots of Citywise families at our recent Christmas sessions. If you would like to make this a fun Pizza […]

Delicious Oreo Truffles Recipe!

We have all spent a lot more time with our families than we expected to this year! Citywise is on a mission to help families bond at a time when it can be tricky to do the normal things that help us relax or have fun. Over the years children on our community programmes have […]

The Gift of Friendship

(3 minute read) This year has been an extraordinary one. Not in the way that you might describe a solar eclipse, or the birth of a child. But in the way you might describe living during a global pandemic, watching the world change forever. We may have found ourselves uttering new phrases like ‘corona-coaster’, ‘zoom-fatigue’, […]

Manchester December Parties (NOW FULL)

Join us this December on either Friday 4th and Saturday 5th December (or both!) You child will get valuable time with a Citywise Mentor as they complete activities, crafts and games together. We can’t wait. We have room for 12 children on each day, so please let us know if for any reason you can […]

It’s so good to be back!

Restrictions in Manchester have meant it has taken us a little longer to be back together in person which made our October Camp last week extra special! We had such a fun three days of reconnecting, learning more about our emotional and physical health and how we can cope with challenges by showing resilience. We’ve […]

Manchester October Half Term Camp – NOW FULL

Join us at the Citywise Centre for a half-term camp! The camp will run each morning from 9am – 12:30pm from Monday to Wednesday this October 26-28th. We’re only able to open this camp to 15 children, so if you can come we encourage you to sign up and come every day! We’ll create a […]

Jess’ story: more than just volunteering

Signing up to volunteer with Citywise when I was at University was one of the best decisions I ever made. I always knew I wanted to work with children in the field of Psychology, and I knew that by volunteering with Citywise I would be able to get some experience. However, I had no idea […]

Coronavirus: Our Response

We’re doing what we can to be ready to offer our programmes to children when it’s safe to do so. After what could be months of lockdown, children’s mental health and wellbeing will be tested, even for the most resilient child. We’re exploring the idea of hosting virtual summer camps and how we can best support children […]

New beginnings in Glasgow

2019 has been a huge year at Citywise. Not only have we celebrated our 25th anniversary, we have also introduced an entirely new way of working with children, their families and communities. And not content with this, we’ve also taken the opportunity to completely re-launch our work in Glasgow! If this is all news to […]

Manchester Heroes Academy 2019!

What a two weeks it has been! We can now present to you the Citywise Heroes Academy Manchester Class of 2019! They have had so much fun over the last two weeks, making new friends and learning all about what it takes to be an everyday hero!! They have been to the Museum of Science […]

Citywise Drama Camp!

🎼 “We’re not average. We’re not average. All that we do is magic! Don’t you ever call us average!” 🎼 If you made it to the Final Performance then you will know what a talented bunch of children we had come along to the Drama Camp! They learnt about and practised all the skills they […]

A Superhero Poem

This poem was written by one of our Everyday Heroes and her Mentor during one of Summer Camps, and was performed at their Celebration Show in July 2019! A Superhero A superhero brings about justice so that humankind can have peace A superhero is always kind especially when helping the blind A superhero has great wisdom […]

Glasgow Heroes Academy 2019!

What a two weeks it has been! We can now present to you the Citywise Heroes Academy Glasgow Class of 2019! They have had so much fun over the last two weeks, making new friends and learning all about what it takes to be an everyday hero!! They have been to the Glasgow Science Centre […]

Thank you mentors!

Last week we hosted Thank You events in Glasgow and Manchester to say a proper thank you to our mentors and volunteers for everything they have given this year! 120 volunteers have undergone training to help equip them to form healthy, nurturing relationships as mentors to young people across 9 projects this year! In total […]

Another incredible year!

Certificates have been given out, awards presented and evaluation forms collected which can only mean one thing – our school projects have come to an end for 2019! Across Glasgow and Manchester, 94 young people in 8 school projects have been paired with a mentor this year and been guided through a a programme of […]

25 years of mentoring

The text below is adapted from a speech delivered by Citywise Chief Executive Luke Wilkinson at our 25th Anniversary celebration events, on 13th March 2019 in Glasgow, and 22nd March 2019 in Manchester. I’m going to tell you a bit about Citywise in a moment, but before that I’d like to start by asking you […]

Christmas Appeal 2018

Let’s cut to the chase. We all know (deep down) that giving is the best part about Christmas. You’ve carefully thought up, saved up and wrapped up those gifts, knowing the joy it will bring to the special people in your life. Why wait for December 25th for to unwrap the joy of the Christmas […]

The Citywise Centre Heroes Academy

This August we ran our very own Heroes Academy just around the corner from where Citywise began 24 years ago. You can catch up on a bit of the history here. We had a lot of fun gardening, baking, playing sports and meeting Robin (sadly, Batman couldn’t make it). We also spent time learning about […]

Heroes Academy at St Monica’s High School

It may seem like winter is beginning to set in, but it was only last month that we ran our Manchester schools Summer Project: the Heroes Academy. We are so passionate about our Heroes Academy which not only supports young people to become Everyday Heroes, but also helps them to grow in confidence, refresh their […]

6 Reasons why we love our mentors

1. They could be somewhere else We know what it’s like, too many assignments to write (and the latest Netflix to catch up on!) It can be hard to find time to give away. Instead, our mentors give 2-3 hours a week on a Citywise project to meet with the child they’re mentoring because they […]

Meet the Mentor: Audrey Schneider

Hi Audrey, so you’re a student in Manchester studying Education, but for everyone at home, you don’t sound British, where are you from? Is my English accent not convincing enough?! I’ll keep working on it! I’m actually from the good old United States of America, born and raised in a state called Ohio, LeBron James […]

We didn’t actually go to Bordeaux…

Citywise214 – we smashed it! For the 70 people who took part in Citywise214, May 2018 was a month of training, baking, running, swimming, walking, and cycling. It was worth every blister and drop of sweat as our fundraisers raised £12,000. They traveled over 668 miles all together, that’s: 12 x half marathons 38 x 10km races […]

The countdown is on to #Citywise214

It’s not long until May 12th and the start of #Citywise214! Our volunteers in Glasgow are kick-starting our 8-day challenge by running Glasgow’s Toughest Run on May 12th. Throughout the 8 days various #214 challenges will take place such as ridiculous bike rides and extravagant bake sales. The challenge will be completed in Manchester with […]

Meet the mentor: Joe Cooper

Everyone has to start somewhere, right?! The smallest opportunities can lead you to the previously unimaginable. Here with us is our trusted trustee (get it?) Joe Cooper to share his journey with Citywise so far. Good morning Joe! Talk me through your quest of how you got here… Hello! My mentoring journey started at sixteen […]

Winning at exams the Citywise way!

It’s exam season again and most students have a stressful few weeks of revision and exams ahead of them. It can easily feel overwhelming when faced with lots of material to memorise, but we have a few revision tricks up our sleeves using the four good old Citywise virtues! Trick 1. Write out a schedule (Good Judgment) Often […]

The quest for happiness

Citywise Founder Xavier Bosch kicks off our series of ‘foundations’ where we explore the fundamentals of what Citywise is all about. Where do we get our vision from? We’re in the business of helping the young, especially the disadvantaged, to grow in character. I started Citywise in Castlemilk, Glasgow over 20 years ago but cannot claim credit for doing […]

Meet the mentor: Charlotte Campbell

Today, we have yet another wonderful staff member joining us for an interview on our latest #meetthementor blog. So get ready to meet our Curriculum Coordinator, Charlotte Campbell: Hiya! So excited for you to have joined us! Okay, let’s get right down to it. Tell us a little about yourself. My name’s Charlotte, as you […]