Weekly Column: Mayor Mohammed Zaman

Date published: 24 August 2018

This last week has been really busy with Eid celebrations and Hajj, as hundreds from Rochdale made the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. May God accept their journey, bless their lives and allow them to fulfil their wishes, making this a blessed occasion for all of us.

A Level and GCSE results have again shown outstanding performances of students throughout the borough this year. I send my sincere congratulations to them all and wish them all the best for the future.

Week commencing Monday 13 August – Sunday 19 August

Monday, I went to St Andrews Church for Eid and Pakistan Independence Day celebrations. This was organised by the Pakeezah Women’s group who hold weekly events at the church.

I wrote a speech for the celebration and members shared their recollections of Pakistan during the partition. Prayers were said for those who lost their lives and the Pakistan national anthem was sung, followed by a traditional Lahori meal and a live music performance. All attendees were entertained and enjoyed the day.

Thank you to Razia Shamim OBE, chairman of the Pakeezah group, and her colleagues for organising this celebration.

I was visited by Dunya News from Azad Kashmir in the Mayor’s Parlour who were on tour to the UK to explore and create links with local communities. They were really inspired by Rochdale and said they felt lucky to visit our historical building.

I was then visited by two people from London who are interested in art, along with Mark Doyle, the Art Gallery Curator and Collections Manager at Touchstones. This meeting was to discuss a potential art project on success stories, highlighting the positive work undertaken by local business. They are hoping to put a bid in for this and I wish them luck in their success. Thank you to Mark for introducing the artists to me and for sharing information.

Tuesday was the official 71st Independence Day of Pakistan. Rochdale is home to many Pakistani’s and Kashmiri’s, who found settlement here a long time ago with most migration after the 1960s.

 

 

At present in Rochdale, we have around four generations of families from Pakistan and Kashmir; this was displayed in front of the town hall on Tuesday as four generations sang the Pakistan national anthem in celebration.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/121330/71st-independence-day-of-pakistan-celebrated-at-town-hall

Hundreds gathered in the town hall square to enjoy the Pakistan Independence celebration hosted and organised by the Pakistani and Kashmiri Community Association (PKCA). I want to extend my thanks to Tony Lloyd MP, councillors, council officers, police, the mayoral team, Rochdale Online and members of the public for making the day so successful.

 

 

The celebrations continued as I went to Spotland Community Centre for their Pakistan Independence Day and Eid celebration. Here, there were information stalls, food stalls, activities for children and for senior citizens, with many visitors attending throughout the day.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/138/community-news/121519/spotland-community-centre-hosts-pakistan-independence-day-celebration

Thank you to Ismah and her team of volunteers at Spotland Community Centre, as well as the representatives of user groups, residents and councillors for supporting this event.

On Tuesday evening PKCA held a Mayor’s Charity dinner at the town hall. Over 350 people attended and over £2,500 was raised for my chosen charities this year.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/121360/mayor%E2%80%99s-charity-dinner-2018

The dinner consisted of short presentations on the history of Pakistan that were given in English and in Urdu by Aizah Rashid and Sarah Mahmood, a nice meal and a live performance from a well known Pakistan singer, Akram Rahi. The event was hosted by Anwar Shad.

 

 

I want to thank PKCA for organising, the Pakeeza Women’s group for attending, all the volunteers who helped out, Madeena Catering Services, the town hall staff and Watan, Arif and M&S Cash & Carry who provided donations.

Thursday, I had a tour of Hare Hill House with Moorend Trust – one of my chosen charities who work to maintain heritage buildings and landscapes.

I was greeted by Peter Hook, chairman of the Friends of Hare Hill House, along with other committee members, who gave me the tour and informed me of the background of the building. I learnt information about the Newall family who occupied the house in 1775 and got to see some of the original features of the house, as well as some old letters that were found within the building.

Hare Hill House carries great history and the committee are still raising money to complete work and maintain the heritage. Thank you to them for taking the time to show me around.

Evening, I had a Mayor’s Charity meeting to discuss events and activities we could host within the borough to raise money. All members were pleased to see that we have made, and are still making, steady progress just three months into the mayoral year. Thanks to the chairman, Rochdale Online's John Kay, and all of the charity committee members who attend and help me with my wishes.

Friday was a very interesting day. I attended Holy Trinity Church in Littleborough to view the bible in pictures at their preview evening. The paintings included both the Old and New Testament and I was very inspired by what I saw.

 

 

The messages within the pictures were universal; all faiths could interpret and relate to the bible in different ways. I was honoured to be invited to this evening.

Thank you to Revered Ian Bullock and Ann, the priest who produced these paintings.

Saturday, I went to Castlemere Community Centre for their International Food Festival, aiming to bring diverse dishes together and show their quality.

 

 

The aim of this was for attendees to try food that was different and look into the benefits of the dishes used by other nationalities – all for free.

Here I met two girls who were learning Kung Fu and were very skilled in such a short amount of time training. They attended to teach people some Kung Fu moves.

I think this event was an excellent idea and a lot of attendees gave compliments, favouring the Pakistan and Italian foods and commented on how it is very important to open new doors and try something alternative. If this event is held again, recipes will be on hand for people to take home, so they can produce the dishes themselves.

Thank you to Tasneem Shehzad and Dr Shakoor for organising this event with the community in mind. I hope you can continue to host similar events that inspire communities.

Lastly, I attended Rochdale’s annual Feel Good Festival.

 

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/121455/mayor-visits-feel-good-festival