Weekly Column: Mayor Mohammed Zaman

Date published: 14 December 2018

Week commencing Monday 3 December – Sunday 9 December

Monday, I invited St Margaret’s Church and St Luke’s Church, both in Heywood, to have a tour of the town hall and enjoy afternoon tea in the Clock Tower Dining Room. Over 50 people from the two groups attended to have a tour of the magnificent building.

The churches hold regular meetings to keep pensioners and senior citizens involved with a community and social group. Good interaction was made between the two groups and myself on the day and I learnt how the meetings help reduce isolation and stress as the elderly are put in touch with someone to talk to and listen to their problems.

Thank you to Joyce Higginson who organises events for the senior citizens and to all who came along on the day.

Tuesday, I went to Bridgewater Hall for Manchester and Districts Hospitals Choir Concert. This was organised by CLIC Sargent to support Young Lives vs Cancer.

I met young people who have suffered with cancer and recovered from it. The event really opened my eyes and made me realise that cancer can affect anyone at any age, even young people. Survivors gave talks on their experiences and encouraged those attending to raise awareness of cancer in young people.

Wednesday, I paid a mayoral visit to Limes Housing in Castleton as John Priestley received his Volunteer of the Year award.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/124639/john-priestley-wins-volunteer-of-the-year-award

It was interesting to learn what Limes Housing do in Rochdale and the services it provides for homeless people such as mentoring, personal help and one to one sessions to aid mental health issues and those who are going through a difficult time. Residents living in Limes Housing accommodation told me their personal stories and how they get help to get back on track through the charity.

John was one of these homeless people, but Limes Housing helped him develop his skills and move forward with his life; he now puts back into the community on a daily basis as a volunteer in Manchester. John told me how he wants to become a motivational speaker, so I am personally funding a six-month training course for him to do this. He also has a passion for arts and crafts and makes models out of paper straws, so I challenged him to build a model of Rochdale Town Hall. I am looking forward to seeing him deliver the project.

Thank you to Peter Hurley from Limes Housing for inviting me to visit and see all the work that you do.

Wednesday evening, I attended a pre-loved fashion show for charity at Hebron Church, organised by Brownhill Learning Community. A good mix of communities attended as people from all faiths and cultures browsed stalls selling clothing and took part in auctions of second-hand clothes as the fashion show commenced.

Donations of second-hand clothes were given to be auctioned and all bids began at £1. Brownhill Learning Community provided prizes for a raffle at the show, with all proceeds going to charity. Thank you to Jackie Robinson and to the teachers and parent at Brownhill who made this event possible. It was unique and all for a good cause.

Thursday, a Veteran’s Luncheon was organised in the great hall of Rochdale Town Hall. The event saw a really good turnout as all veterans came together to be in one place.

I gave a speech on the veteran’s breakfast club that I always attend when I can, which has served over 1,200 breakfast to veterans in the past six months. Wing Commander David Forbes and councillor Janet Emsley also spoke of the importance of remembering soldiers and recognising all the things that have been done around the borough to commemorate those who lost their lives.

Thank you to Caen Matthews, David Forbes, Janet Emsley and to town centre chaplain, Margaret Smith, who led prayers.

Rochdale Connections Trust (RCT) is one of many organisations that we are proud to have in Rochdale. They carry out so much amazing work with young people, to help improve their lives.

I attended RCT’s volunteer and young people celebration evening, where I presented certificates and awards to young people who had improved their life chances from 1:1 mentoring support provided by the charity.

Young people spoke about how they have built up their confidence and developed more skills since their journey began with their mentors at RCT. Parents commented on how proud they are of their children’s attitude changes and how RCT has made a positive difference to their lives.

Thank you to RCT for all the work that they do within the borough, especially the youth intervention work that provides a brighter future for our next generation.

Later on Thursday, I went to the winter drop-in for the homeless at Rochdale Infirmary. This event has been running for the past three years and helps over 50 homeless people within Rochdale. Staff at the infirmary gave out free hot meals and drinks, clothes, coats, shoes, quilts and a Christmas present and local businesses and doctors had stalls for foot care, flu jabs and a hairdresser had a very long queue of people.

The day also included choir singing, advice from the council’s alcohol and drugs service and homeless charity, Petrus. As well as the homeless, asylum seekers and refugees also attended to collect vital things they need for their families this winter. Thank you to Lynette Cook, the activities co-ordinator on the Wolstenholme unit at Rochdale Infirmary, for organising this event every year and bringing all of these people together to make Christmas a little bit merrier.

My last engagement on Thursday was Springhill Hospice’s Christmas Service at St Chad’s Parish Church. This service was very well attended as all enjoyed carols, prayers, performances by choirs from local schools and talks from Reverend Mark Coleman and Margaret Smith who led the service.

Thank you to Sophie Ansley, Corporate and Partnership Fundraiser at Springhill Hospice, for always helping to bring communities together, especially at this time of the year to think of those who are less fortunate.

Friday morning, I was invited to the Strand Community Hub opening in Kirkholt. I had a tour of the building which reminded me of the work I did in the 1980’s, when I was a youth worker in the Kirkholt area.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/124668/community-hub-opens-at-the-heart-of-kirkholt

The hub provides facilities like a quiet corner, computers are available to use for free, there are conference rooms with interactive screens and kitchen areas plus a pantry. This pantry accommodates for 200 registered people, who pay £3 to receive 10 items of food. I was told of the need for donations as many who aren’t registered need access to the service the hub provides, but stock isn’t always sufficient.

I attended this official opening with council leader Allen Brett, the CEO and staff of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing and Richard Farnell, who put a lot of effort into the planning and opening of this facility, which will make a huge difference to the Kirkholt community. Thank you to Georgina McAuley from RBH for inviting me to cut the ribbon and celebrate the opening.

I went to the town hall to attend HMR Community Cancer Service’s free health and wellbeing event. Those who attended could meet the team at Macmillan Cancer Support and browse stalls from local services who were offering advice and support as well as blood pressure and cholesterol level checks. I learnt of ways that I could improve my diet to maintain good health and wellbeing. Tony Lloyd MP attended with me and also learnt some useful tips.

Thank you to Jade Hughes and the team at Macmillan for organising this at the town hall and educating people on how to prevent complications with their health.

Bamford Chapel and Norden United Reformed Church launched their monthly dementia café on Friday.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/124035/new-dementiafriendly-caf%C3%A9-to-open-at-bamford-chapel

A local school attended and entertained the café with musical performances and a tombola and raffle were held before refreshments were served.

Thank you to Reverend Richard Bradley for inviting me and for inviting Bamford and Norden councillors and thank you to the volunteers who are running the café for the community.

Friday evening, I went to Castlemere Community Centre for the final session of a series of health awareness events organised by the Asian Medical Professional Support Organisation (AMPSO).

The event was aimed at raising general awareness among South Asian communities as local GP’s gave presentations on what diabetes is, how to control it and how you can prevent it if it is not genetic.

I praise and appreciate the work being undertaken by AMPSO to help raise awareness of different medical issues. I hope you can organise more events like this in the future, offering vital advice and help.

Saturday, I was at Broadfield Hotel for the Parachute Regiment Association’s Christmas dinner. Over 100 people attended and enjoyed live music and a raffle to raise funds for the group. The room was filled with past and present members of the regiment and relatives joined to support the event and remember those who are not with us as we approach Christmas.

It was nice for me to see familiar faces from the veteran’s breakfast club but also to meet new people and learn about their involvement with the regiment. There are so many Parachute Regiment Association’s throughout the UK but the group in Rochdale always join forces for good causes and organise regular well attended events to support one another.

Sunday, I set off hundreds of Santas for Springhill Hospice’s Santa Dash or Dawdle at Hollingworth Lake. 420 people ran around the lake dressed in Christmas costumes to raise vital funds for the charity. This annual event is always a great success and I was proud to see so many still turn out even in the bad weather.

The fastest runner completed the dash or dawdle in 15 minutes – breaking the record of 16 minutes that was set last year. All the runners were given medals for their participation.

Thank you again to Sophie Ansley from Springhill’s fundraising team who promoted an active lifestyle in aid of charity, so everyone benefitted.

Later afternoon I attended the Mayor’s Civic Carol Service at St Chad’s Parish Church. Children from Oulder Hill Community School, Falinge Park High School and Broadfield Primary School took part as they formed Christmas choirs and Mark Coleman led the programme.

The event is organised by the Mayor of Rochdale and his mayoral team every year to say praise and thank you to all who contribute to the borough throughout the festive period and to celebrate Christmas together. This occasion brought all communities together in peace and even though some might have different faiths, we all have one love and connections during Christmas time.

I had a last-minute engagement at Fairfield General Hospital, Bury as I was invited to Roch Valley Radio’s Christmas Fair in the hospital café. This was the first Christmas fair organised at the hospital to raise funds for the radio, which is broadcast throughout Rochdale, Heywood, Bury and online, with the studio located in Fairfield Hospital.

Thank you to the presenters for hosting this event not only to raise funds but for giving patients in the hospital a good time as they browsed the many stalls. I really appreciate the good work the hospital does for the community. Thank you also to the stall holders who were pleased to raise funds.

My week ended at Gorton Monastery, Manchester as I joined a Christmas concert with my daughter Mayoress Naaira Zaman and my granddaughter. I always enjoy my time at Gorton Monastery as the venue is so beautiful and when the choirs sang carols, it was even more beautiful.

The programme for the night presented messages of love and we said prayers of unity to promote peace and prosperity at Christmas. Thank you to the choir groups and the singers for taking part and providing us all with joyful entertainment.