Mayor collects for charity

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Mayor collects for charity

The Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Zulfiqar Ali is spending this afternoon (Saturday 5 February 2011) collecting money for one of his chosen charities.

Mayor Ali joined with representatives from Parkinson’s UK Rochdale Branch is collecting at the entrance of Tesco in Middleton.

Parkinson’s UK is one of the Mayor’s chosen charities for this year’s charity appeal. The other is Shop Mobility.

The Mayor has just a few months left in his role and is keen to raise as much money as possible. Today is the second of two days he has spent at the store armed with a collection tin to raise funds for the organisation.

Mayor Ali, said: “I picked this charity because I want them to benefit from the funds and I want people to be aware of the Parkinson’s UK branch in Rochdale.”

He added: “The people in Middleton have been very generous. I must also thank Tesco for allowing us to come and collect, the staff have been very helpful.”

Mayor Ali hasn’t sent a target amount of money he would like to raise, he said: “I will be more than happy with whatever I can raise.”

Doreen Stott, Chairwoman of the Rochdale branch hopes the Mayor’s involvement will raise the group’s profile.

She said: “We want to make people aware; people don’t really know much about Parkinson’s unless it is in their family and the more we collect the more we can do for the people.”