Mayor's Column: Councillor Aasim Rashid

Date published: 01 July 2021

Councillor Aasim Rashid was sworn in as the Mayor of Rochdale during a ceremony at Middleton Arena on Wednesday 19 May 2021. His wife, Rifit, is Mayoress of Rochdale.

Here, in his first Rochdale Online column, he reflects on his first official engagements as the Mayor of Rochdale.

Read more: Councillor Aasim Rashid is the new Mayor of RochdalePublished: 21 May 2021

 

---

I am really feeling blessed and grateful to all my friends, colleagues and residents who elected me as Mayor of Rochdale. It will be a privilege to represent the council as mayor for the next 12 months and I thank all those who have put their trust in me.

I am very much looking forward to the year ahead as life hopefully continues to return to some sort of normality, safely and cautiously.

I look forward to working with local charities as Rochdale is a goldmine of a multicultural society, where we live in unity and diversity, and we [the mayor and mayoress] will do all we can to raise as much money for my chosen charities as possible.

The Mayor’s Charity Appeal for 2021/22 will be raising funds for Parkinsons UK, Springhill Hospice, Petrus, Jolly Josh and Rochdale Shopmobility. All donations are gratefully received and will go to these fantastic local causes.

You can donate to the Mayor’s Charity Appeal (registered charity number 1043910) by:

BACS or bank transfer:
Barclays Bank Rochdale Branch
Account Name: Mayor of Rochdale's Charity Appeal
Account Number: 53356159
Sort code: 20–72–67

Cheque: make cheques payable to The Mayor's Charity. You can drop them off at the front desk at Number One Riverside or post them to:

​​The Mayor's Office
Number One Riverside
Smith Street
Rochdale
OL16 1XU​​​​

 

 

After the mayor making ceremony, my first engagement was setting up the new mayoral office at Number One Riverside. This is a temporary office until the restoration of Rochdale Town Hall is finished, and the mayor’s parlour can open once again.

 

 

Mohammed Sarwar from the Centre of Wellbeing, Training and Culture (CWTC) invited me to be a guest on the CWTC Community Podcast, so, on 2 June, I welcomed him into the mayor’s office to film this.

The podcast was a great opportunity for me to tell residents more about myself and my mission over the next year as the Mayor of Rochdale:

 

 

My biggest goal for this year is to raise money for local charities, but in the meantime, I will attend as many functions as I can.

The first outing in my mayoral capacity was on Monday 5 June. I was invited to Rochdale Folk Festival by Councillor Tom Besford, which provided live music in Rochdale town centre over the weekend of 4 - 6 June.

From Friday to Sunday, indoor and outdoor entertainment was enjoyed as both local and regional folk musicians and dancers performed at venues such as The Flying Horse, Touchstones, St Mary in the Baum and outside on Gracie Island.

This was the first Rochdale Folk Festival to be held and I really enjoyed the acts I watched; I hope to see it return next year.

 

 

Later on 5 June, I watched Rochdale AFC Military Veterans vs Oldham Athletic Military Veterans football match at Mayfield Sports Centre. This was a great charity match in aid of Springhill Hospice – even better that Rochdale won the game 6-3! Rochdale were down 2-0 at one stage before they equalized and a hat-trick from player Adam Trennery brought them to victory.

Springhill Hospice relies on donations to raise more than £3.2million every year (or £8,928 per day) to provide its vital services, so I am delighted the match raised a total of £3,113.39 for one of my chosen charities.

 

Read more: Springhill Hospice presented with £3,000 cheque after veterans' football clashPublished: 26 June 2021

 

 

The first official mayor’s charity meeting was hosted at Falinge Park on 7 June. The charity committee is made up of volunteers who support the mayor in organising events to raise money for the Charity Appeal, and I am delighted to have such a fantastic committee helping me this year.

We hope to organise various events such as the annual Mayoress at Home, Mayor’s Civic Ball, and the MPs Dinner, as well as a charity cricket match. All members gave me their assurance and pledged support for the year ahead, and I cannot wait to put events in place.

 

Read more: Mayor’s charity committee outline aims for the next yearPublished: 09 June 2021

 

 

Arranged by the Lord Lieutenancy office, a tree was planted at Kingsway Park High School on Thursday 10 June to celebrate the memory and living legacy of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.

This was one of eleven tree plantings held throughout Greater Manchester on the anniversary of the late Duke’s birthday, to celebrate the legacy of his Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE). 65 bluebell seeds were scattered at the base of the tree to represent 65 years of DofE.

 

Read more: Tree planted at Kingsway Park High School to celebrate late Duke of EdinburghPublished: 14 June 2021

 

 

Commissioned by Action Together with support from the National Lottery Community Fund, I attended the launch event and officially unveiled a piece of artwork titled ‘Radical Kindness’ at Baillie Street on Saturday 12 June.

‘Inspired by stories of everyday acts of kindness and mutual aid from people across Rochdale’s neighbourhoods and communities during the Covid-19 pandemic’, two local artists, R Khan and Bushra Sultana, collected stories of kindness from people across the Rochdale borough during the pandemic and created this artwork inspired by what they heard.

The artwork includes quotes and visuals to celebrate acts of kindness that helped many get through unprecedented times during lockdown.

Thank you to Action Together, artists R Khan and Bushra Sultana, and members of the community who participated to create this beautiful, uplifting artwork now displaying in Rochdale town centre for all to see.

 

 

Mayoral Invitations

The Mayor welcomes invitations to events held by local organisations and individuals. Due to demand, it may not be possible for the Mayor to attend every event he is invited to.

To invite the Mayor to your event, please complete the Mayor attendance form and return it to the Mayor’s Officer.

• Visit: www.rochdale.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/mayors/Pages/mayoral-invitations.aspx
• Email: mayoral@rochdale.gov.uk
• Tel: 01706 924890