From Playground to Cricket Ground

Wednesday morning was 'back to school' for local children...and me too!  I was at Woodford Green Primary School for the unveiling of new playground equipment.  The kids were really excited and couldn't wait to try out the latest addition to their playground.  It looked to be a lot of fun.

In the evening, I was down at Leyton Cricket ground to watch a charity cricket match.  The match, organised by the Elliott Davis London League, was raising funds for Haven House, a children's hospice in Woodford Green.  The weather was simply perfect and just right for watching the game.  And there was the added bonus of an appearance from England and Essex bowler Sajid Mahmood.  For cricket fans, the day couldn't get any better and it was great to know that a really deserving cause was benefiting too.

A Busy Fortnight!

I’ve had another busy couple of weeks in the Borough and beyond, meeting people and sharing celebrations with them. A high point was being at Willowfield School when the students got their GCSE results. As a former pupil at the school, it was great to see so many proud and happy faces. Congratulation to them and students throughout Waltham Forest who did well in their exams.

Equally impressive was the hard work that the Scouts had put in to the annual conservation project in Epping Forest. The Scouts work with the Epping Forest Centenary Trust on four sites in the forest and do a great job with help of a band of willing adult volunteers.

I was lucky enough to go to three Eid celebrations last week – one with the Indian Muslim Federation, another with the Senior Citizens’ Asian Group and a Council-led evening of entertainment at Walthamstow Assembly Hall. And because Waltham Forest is such a fantastically diverse Borough, I was also made very welcome at the Shri Nathji Sanatan Hindu Temple at Whipps Cross where we celebrated Lord Krishna’s birthday.

      After leaving the Temple I went to the William Morris Gallery to greet a group of Palestinian teenagers who were in the UK as part of the ‘Common Ground’ Palestinian-UK Exchange project. They seemed to really enjoy Lloyd Park in the sunshine and the guidebooks of the gallery that they received as gifts.

Over the weekend I enjoyed the Pak Cultural Society’s Pakistan Independence Day celebration and also attended the 34th Khatam-e-Nabuwat conference. On Monday I was honoured to receive two high-profile guests in the Parlour – Zafar Mahmood Mughal, the Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan, and M. Lehrasib Khan Gondal, a Supreme Court advocate and Vice Chairman of the Punjab Bar Council.

Great British Tennis Weekend

On Saturday afternoon I went to the Great British Tennis Weekend which took place at Abbotts Park in Leyton. I really enjoyed my time there and I took part in cardio tennis. There were loads of coaching sessions taking place and it was good to see so many residents taking part .

I was also one of many who signed the “Back the Brits” banner in support of Andy Murray who is defending his US Open title next week. Good luck Andy!

Pakistan Independence Day - Flag Raising Event

The 14th August was a very special day for the Pakistan community as Waltham Forest marked Pakistan Independence Day. The flag was raised in the presence of the Leader, councillors and residents of Waltham Forest. Thank you to everybody for attending. In particular a big thank you to the Counsellor of Community Welfare, Mrs Fiza Batool, who took time from her busy schedule at the Pakistan High Commission to be with us.

A Level and BTEC Results Day - George Monoux College

It was a nail biting day for lots of A Level students on Thursday as they awaited their exam results! It was an absolute pleasure to find myself back at Sir George Monoux College (I was a student there back in the day!) but this time I was invited to take part in the celebrations, to cut the cake and to release balloons. And what a great achievement for the college where the overall A level pass rate this year was 99% . The BTEC students did brilliantly too - there were 100% pass rates in Level 3! Congratulations to all the students who have gained their university places. You must all be so proud of yourselves. Congratulations also to Paoloa Ramella, Principal, and all his hardworking staff who must also be immensely proud. Your efforts have paid off and we are proud to have such bright and ambitious students in Waltham Forest!

A Focus on Youth

Over the past few days, I’ve been to a number of events focusing on young people. On Monday I went to an International Youth Day in Leyton organised by the Metropolitan Police Service. The day was designed to make young people more aware of the educational and other opportunities available to help them make the most of their potential. It also gave me the chance to publicly thank the Waltham Forest Police Cadets for all their hard work in supporting the Mayor’s Charity Appeal – they are a real credit to the Borough.

On Wednesday, I was invited to a fund-raising event in support of ‘Schools4Change’, an initiative dedicated to building a state-of-the-art school in Kashmir, before coming back to the Town Hall to help mark Pakistan Independence Day with a short flag raising ceremony. It was great to see so many people – residents, councillors and staff – gather round the flag pole. And we were honoured to have Mrs Fiza Batool, the Community Welfare Attache from the Pakistan High Commission join us in the sunshine.

Finally, I had the great honour of meeting Prudence Rudlin who was 100 years young on Thursday. Pru is a local girl, born and bred in Walthamstow. She’s worked hard throughout her life and has done lots of charity work for her Church. Pru’s family made me very welcome and it was a delight to share in her celebrations.



Adam Day - 10 August

On Saturday evening I had the pleasure of joining Mr Muhammad Ali Shah of the Azeemia Foundation in celebration of Adam Day.  He organised a really good event where the focus was "Unity in Diversity".  I was fortunate enough to meet with religious leaders from other faiths where we all came together as one and showed that there is unity in diversity!