Press Release

Xylem and Manchester City Football Group Partner in “Cityzens Giving” For Second Annual Safe Water Project

November 13, 2019

RYE BROOK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2019-- Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL), a leading global water technology company dedicated to solving the world’s most challenging water issues, is partnering with the Cityzens Giving annual charitable campaign launched today, a Manchester City Football Club global community initiative, which helps young leaders around the world change lives through the power of football.

Now in its’ sixth year, Cityzens Giving sees City Football Group and its partners once again donating £400,000 to six community football projects run by young leaders in cities around the world.

Over the course of the six-week campaign, fans will hear first-hand from the young leaders in each of the six projects and will be asked to vote for the one that resonates most with them. The more votes a project gets, the greater the funding it will receive.

Last year, the safe water project in Bangalore, supported by Xylem, received the most votes, and received the largest grant of the £400,000 in funding.

As a partner of Manchester City, Xylem is proud to be supporting a new safe water project in Cape Coast, Ghana, as one of the six initiatives in the campaign. The project, “Kicking for Change,” will combine football, safe water education and equipment to provide clean water access to schools and communities to help prevent waterborne illnesses and keep children in school.

While Ghana has made large strides in reducing poverty through economic growth, more than 60% of the population still lacks access to safe drinking water, leaving them vulnerable to water-related illness and disease. Children in Ghana, girls especially, often have to walk extremely long distances to collect water, making them late for school, or absent altogether due to illness from waterborne diseases.

This project will use football to teach children about life-saving water and sanitation education, keeping them healthy and in school, and will be combined with a new clean water source in the community. This project is delivered in partnership with Play Soccer Ghana, and is generously supported by Xylem.

“Xylem is committed to raising awareness of global water challenges and our partnership with Cityzens Giving for this project will provide a powerful opportunity to share in a community commitment to solving water” said Joseph Vesey, Xylem Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “We look forward to watching the votes and to moving forward on a great initiative for the youth of Cape Coast, Ghana, to help advance education for young girls, water security and work towards a more sustainable future.”

Ferran Soriano, Chief Executive of City Football Group, said:

“At City Football Group we are incredibly proud of Cityzens Giving. Over the past five years the campaign has gone from strength to strength and we are passionate about letting our fans choose from projects around the world and empowering our Young Leaders to inspire their local communities.

“The sixth year of the Cityzens Giving campaign sees more young people than ever before connecting with their communities and using football to find solutions to the social issues they are facing. More than 10,000 young people around the world are now engaged each year through our Cityzens Giving projects. Our Cityzens decide where the effort and the money go, making a positive difference in the world through the power of football.”

Starting today, fans from across the City Football Group network can vote for their preferred cause at: mancity.com/cityzensgiving.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water challenges. The Company’s products and services move, treat, analyze, monitor and return water to the environment in public utility, industrial, residential and commercial building services settings. Xylem also provides a leading portfolio of smart metering, network technologies and advanced infrastructure analytics solutions for water, electric and gas utilities. The Company’s approximately 17,000 employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions. Headquartered in Rye Brook, New York, with 2018 revenue of $5.2 billion, Xylem does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands.

The name Xylem is derived from classical Greek and is the tissue that transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of our water-centric business by linking it with the best water transportation of all – that which occurs in nature. For more information, please visit us at www.xylem.com.

About Xylem Watermark

Xylem Watermark is Xylem’s corporate citizenship and social investment program. Xylem Watermark’s mission is to provide and protect safe water resources for communities and to educate people about water issues. By working with best-in-class non-profit partners and leveraging the expertise, time and passion of Xylem’s employees and stakeholders, Xylem Watermark is able to address the full spectrum of global water challenges. For over 10 years, Xylem Watermark has been generating social impact by delivering clean water to communities in need, responding to water-related disasters with humanitarian assistance, and empowering communities through education about water, sanitation and hygiene and the value of water.

About Cityzens Giving 

Since the launch of Cityzens Giving more than five years ago, over 1000 Young Leaders have been trained with over 10,000 young people across 20 cities now engaged each year through the projects. Each year, fans are given the opportunity to choose how funds, donated by City Football Group and its partners, are split between six different projects.

In addition to funding, every season young leaders are invited to Manchester City’s Young Leaders Summit held at City Football Academy to share learning about how they are using the power of football to address social issues in their local communities.

In October 2016, Cityzens Giving won Corporate Citizenship Campaign of the Year at the annual Beyond Sport Awards, designed to support and reward the best projects across the globe that are using sport for positive social change.

For more information, please visit www.mancity.com/cityzensgiving.

Source: Xylem

Houston Spencer
+1 (914) 240-3046
Houston.spencer@xyleminc.com

Rayna Sidhu
+44 161 438 7174
Rayna.Sidhu@cityfootball.com