Buckets of style!

Nothing says Manchester quite like the effortlessly cool look of a bucket hat, so how fitting it was that a group of Manchester United Foundation participants were able to design and create their own to kickstart the year.

Young people from two of the Foundation’s partner high schools aptly spent a day on campus at the University of Manchester, expressing their creativity by cutting materials into size, stitching them together and completing their craft on the sewing machines.

Working with the faculty of science and engineering at the University of Manchester, the students also learnt about the importance of responsible recycling. “It’s been a very good day and we finished the hats surprisingly quickly! It was cool,” said Brandon, from Co-op Academy North Manchester.

“I put the United badge on my hat because I’m a true Red! We were using a United shirt to create the hats and we got the Adidas stripes from the shoulder part of the shirt and put them on the hat too.”

Maryam, from Dean Trust Abraham Moss, added: “I feel proud to have made my hat! We used the sewing machine and cut all the materials. Now, I feel like I can sew by myself because of doing this.”

Fellow Abraham Moss student Aliyah concluded: “My hat has the United badge on it because we are the best team and we have a lot of history!” I’ve done it more than I’ve done it before today. If I need to stitch something, I can do it without someone needing to help. I can sew by myself because of doing this."

These young people are part of the Foundation’s Eco Reds programme, which aims to equip young people with the knowledge and skills to better protect the environment for generations to come

Eco Reds is a Players’ Project Pilot, supported by the Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association. The Players’ Project Pilot aims to build stronger connections between players, communities and football clubs by putting players at the heart of local projects that help to address important societal issues.