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Welcome to Oldham's new ‘First’ family

by Ruhubia Akbor
28/ 5/2008

OLDHAM’S youngest ever mayor has been sworn in and duly promised that his key word will be ‘positive’.

In front of his proud family, friends and colleagues, Werneth councillor Shoab Akhtar pledged to use his year of service to promote a positive image of Oldham locally, nationally and across the globe.

The 38-year-old First Citizen said: "I’m absolutely delighted and very proud to take on the role of Mayor of Oldham.

"It is a great privilege and honour to serve as mayor for the borough in which I grew up and have lived in most of my life. Even though I was not born in Oldham, I consider myself to be an Oldhamer through and through.

"I hope that I will be able to shoulder the responsibility that has been bestowed on me and I hope that I will be a good and approachable mayor. I will certainly undertake my duties to the best of my ability."

The father-of-three moved to the borough with his family in 1977 and currently lives in Coppice. He has held his council seat for Werneth for the past eight years and hopes to create better understanding between the generations and raise key funds for a number of local charities.

The main beneficiaries of his Mayoral Appeal will be the Oldham Education Trust, which was set up by former mayor Cllr Abdul Jabbar, as well as Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Diabetes Centre at the Royal Oldham and Oldham Cancer Support Centre.

Cllr David Jones (the former leader of Oldham Council) paid tribute to the new mayor, saying: "Like many of us, Shoab is not a native born of Oldham but is somebody who came here to live and was raised here.

"He has been heavily involved with the community and been very active with the Labour group for almost two decades.

"He wants to promote adult and youth groups working together – recognising that one of the biggest difficulties we have is tension between the age groups."

Cllr Jackie Stanton, who seconded Cllr Jones’s proposition, added: "Shoab is more than up to this job. The simple reason is that he’s a very caring man who sees being Oldham’s youngest mayor as an honour and privilege.

"Like all his predecessors, I know he’ll use this year to promote the borough and work hard for all of its citizens."

Conservative Cllr John Hudson also added his support: "I think Shoab and his wife Shafeena will be welcomed in this borough and I hope all councillors will do their best to support them.

"If we all work together Oldham Metropolitan Borough will only become stronger."

l The traditional civic procession will take place on Sunday, June 8, from the Civic Centre at 10am. This will be followed by a special service at Oldham Parish Church at 10.30am.

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