UKIM 50th anniversary celebration

UKIM 50th Celebration

One of the largest and longest established Islamic organisations in Britain, UK Islamic Mission (UKIM), is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Two of its 45 national branches are based in Rochdale, Neeli Mosque in Deeplish and Madinah Mosque in Newbold, and the branches collaborated to organise a spectacular celebration event for the community.

Guests and speakers included Mayor and Mayoress of Rochdale James and Jane Gartside; Simon Danczuk MP; Sarfraz Madani, former President of UKIM; and Sikander Mirza, Secretary General of UKIM.

A huge marquee was the venue for the celebrations which included a bouncy castle, a ball pit, a bazaar with delicious sweets and savoury food, a chocolate fountain and candy floss stall, face painting, balloon modelling, toys and books. Entertainment was delivered by Kamal Uddin, a popular international Nasheed artist (spiritual songs), who was joined on stage by lots of young, keen, budding singers.

The Mayor speaking at the opening ceremony said: “It’s an honour to be invited to UKIM’s 50th anniversary celebrations. UKIM does a lot of work in the community through its volunteer base, with activities such as the heritage tours and the primary schools programme.”

Simon Danczuk said: “I’m really impressed with the work that UKIM and Neeli Mosque have done over the years. I was a neighbour of Madina Mosque, Newbold for a while. This gave me a chance to understand and appreciate the work UKIM carries out.”

Imran Ahmed, volunteer and event coordinator, said: “It was a pleasure to see so many people from the community come to this event and enjoy themselves. There were a lot of smiling faces. We wanted to make it a day out for the family as well as an opportunity to highlight the work of UKIM here in Rochdale.”

Taiba and Nadia, both aged 8 years, attended the event with their families, they said: “It was good, everyone was having fun. There was a bouncy castle and I enjoyed the nasheeds by Kamal Uddin.”