Page 47 - Real Rochdale Issue 14 Summer 2022
P. 47
HIGHLIGHTS OF A MAYORAL YEAR
Councillor Aasim Rashid was the 150th Mayor of the Rochdale
borough for the 2021-22 year. Here he talks to Real Rochdale
about representing ethnic minorities, raising money for charity
and some of his favourite events of the year.
You’ve raised £15,000 in your Mayoral year. racism. I belong to the BAME community and
Which causes will benefit from a donation? we have many ethnic minorities in Rochdale,
and this is the beauty of this town: the strong
My chosen charities will receive the majority of integration and multi-cultural society we have,
the monies raised: and strong relationships with varying
communities. I am proud of the diversity, but I
• Parkinsons UK (Heywood) think we need to work more on
• Springhill Hospice -discouraging those who try to divide us. It still
• Petrus exists in society and policies should be very
• Jolly Josh strong. This is work we have to do collectively
• Rochdale Shopmobility within all political parties.
I will also be donating smaller amounts to a few Which events really stood out to you?
small community groups or volunteer
organisations that need help. The main aim is to The visit of the Pakistan High Commissioner in
help as many groups as possible as well as the July 2021, the first visit for about 20-25 years.
volunteer sector. This was a positive sign for both diplomatic and
trade relationships locally. We played a charity
My year started in a difficult time during cricket match, which was my first event.
restrictions, so there were three months of
no activities. We slowly came back to normal The visit of Little Amal was a really proud
life but we had to hold some events later than moment and I was also really honoured to be
usual. The same thing happened at the start part of a service at St Chad’s for the start of the
of 2022 because covid levels rose and we had Queen’s Jubilee programme.
to cancel one of the main charity fundraisers,
Mayoress at Home. The mayoress was really Did you find out anything new or surprising?
disappointed and we were expecting a high
turnout from across Greater Manchester. I was able to meet a lot of new faces, new
businesses, volunteers and community groups
What were your focuses for the year? which I was not previously aware of. I believe I
learnt more in the last 12 months than the last
My first priority – like every mayor – was to eight years as a councillor.
raise as much money as possible, and highlight
our borough across the UK. I was lucky to be I now have more knowledge about my own
the 150th mayor of Rochdale as we celebrated ward [Castleton] and the borough. I am really
150 years of the town hall. Showing our rich proud of what I have achieved and how I have
history was a wonderful thing. I believe served as a mayor. I think I had a very
Rochdale is one of the most beautiful, diverse successful year and a lot of support from
towns in the borough. different groups, proving that if we work
together, we can deliver better.
Another focus was discouraging
discrimination, inequality and any kind of I am really humbled.
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