Published: 04 December 2024
From: Community
Yesterday, Mayor of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½, Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah, welcomed the Aldermen of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ Borough Council to sign the unity pledge. Alderman Councillor Brian Quinn and Alderman Colin Lloyd joined the Mayor to add their signatures to further signify the unity of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½.
The unity pledge celebrates the diversity and inclusivity of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ and was signed by community leaders, council members and other key representatives from across the local community last month at the first unity event.
The November event opened with a speech from Councillor Michael Jones (Leader of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ Borough Council), followed by speeches from Councillor Yasmin Khan (Cabinet member for Public Protection), the Mayor of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½, Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah, Councillor Duncan Crow (Leader of the opposition) and Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½â€™s MP Peter Lamb. Community leaders also spoke at the event including representatives from the Hindu faith, Christian faith and Muslim faith, as well as Marilyn Mansfield-Clark from Diverse Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½, Paul Taylor-Burr from Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ Campaign Against Racism and Youth Mayor, Elijah Norton.
Compered by Chris Oxlade from the Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ Town Centre BID, the November event also featured fantastic performances from Tamil Learning Centre Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ dance group, Ukraine soloist Sofia and DMT school musical theatre group.
It was my pleasure to welcome Alderman Councillor Brian Quinn and Alderman Colin Lloyd to the parlour today. I am delighted that their signatures have been added to the unity pledge – further demonstrating our commitment to celebrating the diversity of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½. This unity pledge means so much to all those in our community and I look forward to it being displayed in the Town Hall so that future generations have the opportunity to understand its significance.
Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah
Mayor
Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½
I was very pleased to hear of this initiative by the council and other community leaders. One of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½â€™s greatest strengths lies in its longstanding diversity and inclusivity and I’m delighted to join in signing the unity pledge.
Alderman Colin Lloyd
As former Mayor of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½, I have always maintained that Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ has been a fine example in Britain of a multicultural society where our community have worked together to develop a prosperous culturally and compassionate society. And, of course, Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½â€™s most striking feature is the diversity of its residents - each ethnic group enriches the cultural life of this wonderful town as we see here today.
Alderman Councillor Brian Quinn
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