Weekly Column: Mayor Mohammed Zaman

Date published: 19 April 2019

My year as the Mayor of Rochdale began in the month of Ramadan last year and will finish in the month of Ramadan this year, which I believe gave me blessings to start with and blessings to end with.

It has been nice to come across many individuals, groups, community organisations, businesses and volunteers throughout the year and I have enjoyed hosting visitors from across the world. I have gained experience for life in kind acts, generosity, humanity and have enjoyed seeing the spirit in others to help within their community and beyond.

I feel that I have been very lucky to be surrounded by many good friends, colleagues, staff at Rochdale Town Hall and the Riverside, mayors of other boroughs and many more to mention. I hope I can keep in touch with all those I have come into contact with this year.

I would like to say a special thank you to Rochdale Online who have continued to support me over the last 12 months. With only four weeks as the Mayor to go, I hope I can continue my learning.

Week commencing Monday 8 April – Sunday 14 April

Monday, I had no engagements.

Tuesday, I met with Rochdale’s Youth Cabinet in the Mayor’s Parlour. I was glad to see so many young people from different schools and backgrounds, supported by council officers, who are chosen on a merit basis to represent the borough in Youth Parliament. I was inspired by the children’s vision and what they aspire to achieve.

I briefed the group on my role as the mayor before they were invited to the Council Chambers for a meeting which taught them the importance of democratic values and gave an outlook on the wider world’s challenges, choices and decision making. I appreciated the way the young people don’t just think of themselves, but for the larger communities in the borough.

Young people are our future and we must guide, support and always motivate them to achieve their potential. Thank you to the council officers who work with the young people and to these young people who are positive ambassadors for our town. I wish you all the best for the future.

 

 

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy at local and national level. I officially opened a new office for Hackney Solutions, a taxi replacement specialist, on Drake Street, who are trying to involve local people with the business to benefit the community they are in.

Originally a business starting in Manchester, I’m always happy to see businesses like this expanding to Rochdale. I hope they can do well here.

 

 

I also paid a last-minute business visit to SA Signs on School Lane, who have been a business in Rochdale for a very long time. The company kindly sponsored and provided a new sign board for Sahiwal House, so I went to show my appreciation and to see what else the business has been up to recently.

 

 

Wednesday, I was invited to Burnside Community Centre. This was to celebrate the end of a programme provided by Keepmoat Homes, who have been helping people with job opportunities through training in health and safety and other aspects that would benefit employment. Most who were involved were looking into jobs in the building trade.

Thank you to the senior officers at Keepmoat who have supported our local people by working with the community, and to councillor Sue Smith and Julie Baker from Keepmoat Homes for inviting me to the event.

Thursday, I joined over 100 people at Cutgate Precinct for the Co-Op’s Great British Community Litter Pick and officially opened the event. Organised by Beverley Place from Rochdale Connections Trust, people from all over the borough had high spirits to come and pick up litter from the area.

Many young people also joined in as the event took place in the Easter school holidays. This was good as it taught the children how to be responsible citizens and why you should not drop litter on the floor, as it can ruin our environment and present a bad image of our town.

Thank you to all who gave their time and helped out on the day to make our streets clean. It is greatly appreciated.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/127276/over-120-people-join-community-litter-pick

 

 

 

Thursday evening, I attended the British Muslim Heritage Centre in Manchester for a BAME – Health and Wellbeing Conference. This was organised by Kramblers, which stands for Kashmiri Ramblers.

Kramblers are a group formed by people in the Greater Manchester and Yorkshire areas who have regular weekly walks and encourage wider participation in exercise to keep fit and healthy.

The conference had professional speakers throughout the night who gave good tips on health and wellbeing, with MEP’s present too. Thank you to Kramblers CEO, Abdul Qayyum, for organising this event, which provided useful information to all attending. I hope you can keep up the good work at future events and continue to advise people across Greater Manchester.

 

 

Friday was my Mayor’s Civic Charity Ball at Rochdale Town Hall. This was attended by all of the Greater Manchester civic mayors and dignitaries, as well as local community groups, volunteers, businesses, family and friends.

I am lucky to have had the support I have over the past 12 months and I am proud to say we raised over £10,000 at the ball, which is all going to worthy local causes. Thank you to all of the sponsors who gave donations for the big raffle and to Worldwide Foods who presented £2,000 to the Mayor’s Charity Appeal. Thank you also to the staff at Number One Riverside and all of the public who supported the big raffle initiative.

I was pleased to see so many happy winners receive gifts, but those that did not have won blessings for the donations they made. You have made a real difference and kind actions always attract rewards.

 

 

Saturday, I was invited to the Mayor of Wigan’s Charity Ball at Kilhey Court Hotel. This was a beautiful venue in the countryside that I attended with other mayors and Wigan businesses.

The evening provided great entertainment and it was nice to meet and make new friends in the Wigan area. I hope the Mayor of Wigan, councillor Susan Greensmith, raised a good sum for Derian House Children’s Hospice – her chosen charity this year and thank you for inviting us, myself and my daughter, Mayoress Naaira, had a really good time.

 

 

On Sunday, Wing Commander David Forbes organised a charity bag pack at Tesco, Middleton for the Mayor’s Charity Appeal. We had over ten cadets who helped out, along with David and local volunteer, Ghulam Rasul Shahzad OBE, who all packed bags for the customers.

One customer told a touching story of how his father had a stroke and now he does his shopping for him. When the young cadets tried to help him, he said no as he promised himself that he will always do things for himself as long as he can. He gave a donation of £20 and I would like to thank that gentleman for his support and all other customers who donated on the day. We’re still counting, but I think we raised approximately £500.

Later on Sunday, I was invited by Susan Joseph, chairperson of the Jewish Theatre Company (JTC), to attend the musical Sister Act at Middleton Arena. The Mayor of Bury, Councillor Jane Black, accompanied me along with her husband, Consort Mark Sankey.

This was a very well attended musical event, which entertained audiences with singing, dancing and acting throughout. It was nice to see the support from the local community as the arena was packed out.

Thank you to the Mayor of Bury for giving me company and I wish JTC all the best with their future productions.

 

 

Finally, I was invited to Manchester for a charity dinner hosted by Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust, who are also based in Manchester and deliver free healthcare across the world.

For their Global Vision Aid campaign last year, they conducted 74,000 cataract operations in South Asian countries such as Burma, Gambia, Sudan, Kenya, Pakistan, Somalia, Palestine and Bangladesh. They hope to have completed 100,000 by 2020.

Thank you to them for the amazing work they carry out. I hope you can reach your aim.

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

The next Mayor of Rochdale will be Councillor Billy Sheerin, who will be sworn in at the next full Council meeting on 22 May 2019.