Councillor Aasim Rashid discusses highlights of 2021-22 mayoral year

Date published: 04 June 2022

Last year’s Mayor of Rochdale – Councillor Aasim Rashid – was the 150th borough mayor. Here, he tells Rochdale Online about his mayoral year.

The deputy mayor for 2019-20, Councillor Rashid had to wait an extra year to become mayor, as his predecessor, fellow Castleton ward councillor Billy Sheerin, served an extended term due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Councillor Rashid said: “My mayoral year started in a difficult time [May 2021], in restrictions, so there were three months of no activities.

“We slowly came back to normal life and began holding events, but even some of those we had to hold later than usual. We had to hold our Pakistan Independence state dinner in September as we weren’t able to have it in August. We had an outside gathering in August and then the dinner later on.

“The same thing happened in January and February [2022] because covid levels rose and we had to cancel one of the main charity fundraisers, Mayoress at Home. The mayoress was really disappointed and we were expecting a high turnout from across Greater Manchester. We had hoped it hold it on 14 February but we unfortunately had to cancel it.”

Each year, the elected mayor chooses any number of charities to benefit from funds raised for the Mayor’s Charity Appeal: Councillor Rashid’s beneficiaries were Parkinson’s UK, Springhill Hospice, Petrus, Jolly Josh and Rochdale Shopmobility.

Councillor Rashid – the only BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) mayor in Greater Manchester for 2021/22 – continued: “My first priority was to raise as much as possible for the charities, which obviously everybody does.

“My chosen charities will receive the majority of the monies raised but I will also be donating smaller amounts to a few small community groups or volunteer organisations that need help. The main aim is to help as many groups as possible as well as the volunteer sector.”

He went on: “As a civic mayor, I tried my best to highlight the Rochdale borough across Greater Manchester and the UK. I travelled a lot within Greater Manchester, but also to London to attend a function as a representative of the borough.

“I attended a service at St Chad’s which was for the Queen’s Jubilee programme, and that was a service I was really honoured to be a part of.  The mayoral ball was a success too; this was a masquerade ball and everybody enjoyed it, and the visit of Little Amal was a really proud moment.

“Another highlight was the visit of the Pakistan High Commissioner. I invited him from London and it was the first visit of the high commissioner in 20-25 years. It was a really positive sign for diplomatic and trade relationships with Pakistan and South Asians in the borough.

“He played a charity cricket match to raise money and that was the first major event we had in the borough [for Aasim’s mayoral year].

“I attended so many engagements. Even if someone invited me to a small gathering, I was there. I was proud that someone had invited me as mayor and I did try to attend everything.

“I was surprised to find out that most residents don’t understand the role of mayor, thinking we have absolute powers like an elected mayor [such as Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester Mayor]. The powers that Andy Burnham has across Greater Manchester, we don’t have.

“When we get emails with issues, problems or complaints, we have to answer diplomatically and ask their normal ward councillors if they can help. This is a problem as mayor, because we don’t want to disappoint people: our duty and service is to try and accommodate our residents.

“It is a huge responsibility to be the number one citizen of the borough. Obviously, it’s a privilege, but you have to fulfil your duties and expectations and responsibilities. How you mediate with these things is crucial.

“Rochdale has a rich history, like the origin of the co-op. In my speeches I always mentioned that Rochdale is the town where the co-op movement started. I was lucky enough to be the 150th mayor as we celebrated 150 years of the town hall. That was a wonderful thing to be able to show people and I am proud that our sixth form college is one of the best sixth form colleges in our country.

“Our communities and ethnic minorities within the borough are quite strong. The beauty of this town is the stronger integration and multi-cultural society we have, plus the strong relationships.

“I believe Rochdale is one of the most beautiful, diverse towns across the borough and we need to discourage any kind of discrimination, inequality or any kind of racism. If we work together, we can stand together and we can deliver better. I belong to the BAME community and I’m proud of the diversity, but I think we need to work more on those to discourage those who try to divide us.

“If we are divided by small factors, it will be damaging for us, so we need to make sure that our younger generation, our future sticks together.

“It still exists in this society and the policies should be very strong. This is work we have to do collectively within all political parties.”

Councillor Rashid concluded: “Overall, I think I had a very successful year and a lot of support from different communities. I was able to meet a lot of new faces, new businesses, volunteers and community groups which I was not previously aware of. I believe I learnt more about the borough in the last 12 months than the last eight as a councillor.

“I am really proud of whatever I have achieved and what I have served as a mayor. I think I had a very successful year and a lot of support from different groups, proving that if we work together, we can deliver better.

“I am really humbled.”