Fire safety staff have Urdu lessons

Staff from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) were given an insight into Muslim beliefs, culture and traditions to help develop a greater two-way understanding of the local community and the fire service

Staff from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) were given an insight into Muslim beliefs, culture and traditions to help develop a greater two-way understanding of the local community and the fire service.

Prevention and protection officers from Rochdale, Oldham and Bury were invited to a guided tour of the new Golden Mosque in Rochdale.

The tour was conducted by the Imam, the Chairman of the mosque and Ghulam Rasul Shahzad OBE who is Chairperson of the Rochdale BME Fire and Safety Education Association and a prominent member of the local community.

Mr Shahzad arranged the tour in conjunction with Rochdale Community Safety Advisor Robina Yasmin and during the visit he explained in detail about Muslim beliefs and day-to-day mosque activities.

After the tour, Mr Shahzad visited Rochdale Fire Station where he gave an Urdu language lesson to GMFRS staff to help them communicate more effectively with local Asian businesses and families when doing Home Safety Checks and other community activities in the borough.

Robina said: “None of my colleagues had ever been inside a mosque and so they wanted to know what it was like and learn more about the local community.

“Everyone enjoyed the visit and the Urdu lesson and they are now able to use basic greetings and sayings which will help breakdown cultural and language barriers and encourage more local Muslims to have Home Safety Checks.”