Weekly Column: Mayor Mohammed Zaman
Date published: 01 March 2019
Mayor Mohammed Zaman
It is that time of the year when people are in the mood for a Spring clean; disposing of your items that can actually be re-used by others who need them. I want to encourage people, if you are having a clear out, to keep in mind the need to reduce, re-use and recycle.
There are many organisations in Rochdale that would find your unwanted items handy such as Petrus, British Heart Foundation, Salvation Army and Re-Use Littleborough to name a few. Charity goes a long way and carries mercy and blessings.
Think before you dispose and keep the environment clean and green whilst helping and supporting those in need. It can really make a great difference to someone else’s life.
Week commencing Monday 18 – Sunday 24 February
Monday and Thursday, I had no engagements.
Tuesday, the Friends of Rochdale Town Hall (FoRTH) had their monthly meeting. FoRTH are a very strong group who are always committed to looking after the town hall, whilst organising all visits and tours of the building.
FoRTH are currently working with the Heritage Lottery Fund, so their main focus is ensuring the building can go forward in the future. The Heritage Lottery Fund is going to help make improvements on both the inside and outside and hopefully this will maintain the building for many years to come.
Thank you to Dorothy Johnstone, who takes lead of the group, and all other FoRTH members for holding the town hall dear to them. The group are also looking to recruit new members, so if anyone is interested you can find details for Dorothy in the Mayor’s Office at the bottom of this column.
Wednesday, I was invited to the official opening of Gleeson Homes new housing development in the Balderstone and Kirkholt ward. The new development offers a range of two, three and four bedroom houses with garages and beautiful surroundings, as well as being very economical in regard to heating and lighting. The new development and will be very beneficial to families within the area who are looking for a new home.
I was given a tour of the different homes and was very impressed. Gleeson are currently doing very well with a number of families coming to visit the show homes and seeing what they have to offer; Gleeson have carried out a lot of research to ensure they meet the needs of the community they are building in.
Thank you to Rachael Webb from Gleeson Homes who invited me and to her colleagues for giving me a tour. I was also given a £150 donation for the Mayor’s Charity, which was kindly received and very appreciated.
I attended Burnside Community Centre, Middleton for their ‘Let’s Get Together’ event. This was a community event held by Riverside Housing and Onward Homes for all local residents to find out more about accessing local services, groups, job opportunities and training available.
Stalls were available to browse with advice on housing, health, finance and social care and children were welcomed with activities such as arts and crafts, face painting, glitter tattoos and circus skills available. The free buffet was very nice, and the raffle was entertaining. People also enjoyed the complimentary therapies.
The event really did bring people together to develop relationships and a better understanding of their services, so the organisations can achieve more together for our communities. Thank you to Joan Aspinall, the current manager at Burnside Community Centre, for organising. We need more great networking events like this.
Wednesday afternoon, I got dressed in traditional Nigerian clothing and attended the official launch of the Nigeria Community Association at Rochdale Town Hall. Founded by Mary Adekugbe and her husband Jones Adekugbe, they hosted the launch of this group at the town hall to bring Nigerian families across the borough together to have fun, interact with one another and build relationships.
The launch was very well attended, and everyone was entertained throughout the day with a range of inspirational speakers, dancing, singing and information stalls. The association also held a collection on the day for the Mayor’s Charity, which raised £200. I am grateful to everyone who contributed as we celebrated the diversity within our community.
Wednesday evening, I was invited to St Gabriel’s RC Primary School in Castleton for the annual village pantomime run by St Gabriel's ADMS. The production this year was Dick Whittington, which involved 30 local children in the choruses.
St Gabriel’s is in Deputy Mayor’s, councillor Billy Sheerin’s, ward where he does a lot of work with the school and he invited me to this year’s production.
A number of parents and teachers attended to see the children acting, singing and dancing. The show was very interesting, one I’ve never seen before, and had really good audience interaction, a good layout and good costumes. Thank you to Billy for inviting me to this entertaining event and to the staff at the school for putting the production together.
Friday, I was invited to Hebron Church on Falinge Road for the first Co-Op Fairtrade coffee morning. This is a new coffee morning that will be running fortnightly at the church, which is at a good location on Falinge Road, to raise awareness about fairtrading.
I attended with Rochdale’s MP, Tony Lloyd, and we had a nice morning discussing with residents. I also invited Iman Kazmi from Falinge Park High School to join us. Iman won Falinge Park High School’s Youth Public Speaking event in February and was invited here as my guest to give her a feel of what it is like to be the Mayor and attend engagements.
Thank you to Bev Place and Julie Mellor who invited me, I wish you all the best with the coffee morning in the future.
Saturday, I went to Hollingworth Lake for a blind sailing event. I was highly interested when I learnt of this engagement, I was curious to see what blind sailing was like.
Visually impaired sailors from as far as Isle of Wight and Devon were welcomed to Hollingworth Lake by volunteer coaches and helpers from all over the country, as well as staff from the Water Activity Centre and local sailing club members. The sailors were taught things like how to hold a rope and manoeuvre a boat. A lot of the participants attend these sessions every year to gain medals and further training on sheltered inland water, which describes Hollingworth Lake.
The blind sailing group was started around 20 years ago and has grown from a small group to a well-known organisation across the UK for the visually impaired. I wish them all the best for future events.
Saturday evening, I attended Rochdale & District Fusiliers Association Ladies Night at Rochdale Masonic Hall. This was a well-attended event by mainly females, but there were some males there too to enjoy the social evening.
Entertainment was provided and a raffle was drawn, we all enjoyed the lively environment. It was a mixed get together where you could meet many other members of the group.
Rochdale’s town centre chaplain, Margaret Smith, spoke about her career and how she got into chaplaincy and her faith. She explained how she was proud to be in this position for the town and always aims to help the community, working especially with fusiliers and veterans.
Thank you to the group for inviting me and Naaira to attend this evening and to those who made in interesting and provided the opportunity for all to mix.
Sunday, I travelled to Gorton Monastery in Manchester with the Friends of Rochdale Town Hall for a visit and tour of the building.
There was an exhibition about the history and development of the monastery; it was very interesting to learn how the monastery was started by brothers who collected pennies to build it. Eventually, they received Heritage Lottery funding so they could build it into the state of art church hall that it is now, attracting hundreds of visitors every year.
FoRTH visited the monastery to see and learn how they delivered the finished project through heritage lottery funding, as this is what they will be doing for Rochdale Town Hall.
Thank you to the Gorton Monastery trustees for hosting us and for giving us a tour. We all very much enjoyed exploring the beautiful building.
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 924773
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