Concert of peace

Mohammed Sarwar, Sajjid Miah, Tony Lloyd MP, Carlo Schroder, Zerqa Ahmad, Mayoress Christine Duckworth, Mayor Ian Duckworth, Inspector Andrew Riley, Roger Platt, Father Paul Daly, Peter Rush, Liz McInnes MP, Irene Davies and Janet Emsley

Communities from the across the borough of Rochdale came together for a special concert to show solidarity with the victims of the Manchester, London and other terrorist attacks on Sunday (16 July).

More than 280 people attended the ‘We Stand Together Peace Concert’ at Heywood Civic Centre which aimed to bring communities to together and celebrate cultural diversity.

The concert began with a minute's silence, led by the Mayor and Mayoress, Ian Duckworth and Christine Duckworth, to remember victims of terrorism.

Attendees were treated to a host of multicultural performances by local western, Asian and African performers from singers and musical bands to bhangra dancing.

Guest speakers included Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd, Heywood and Middleton MP Liz McInnes, Heywood priest Father Paul Daly, Dobir Miah from the Rochdale Council of Mosques, Inspector Andrew Riley and Robin Parker from the Multi-Faith Partnership.

Mayor Duckworth, said: “It was fantastic to see so many people of different races and religions coming together for a great night of celebration and remembrance. I hope that community events such as this one continue to lead the way towards a cohesive, caring and strong borough."

Mohammed Sarwar, chief executive of CWTC, said: “It was a pleasure to organise this fantastic community event, which really celebrated the cultural diversity of our borough.

"I would like to thank everyone involved in the event for their outstanding contributions. I think the concert really paved the way forward for us all as one community standing 

Councillor Janet Emsley, Rochdale Borough Council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, community & culture, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the peace concert. It was an evening of excellent entertainment and togetherness which unequivocally showed how local neighbourhoods can work together in our community to achieve great things for great causes. Well done to everyone involved.”