Former Lord Mayor of Bradford Councillor Abid Hussain on why he and his Lady Mayoress Shahnaz Akhtar are backing the Dragonboat Festival 2018

I HAVE ended my mayoral year by enabling great and diverse communities and businesses to come together to make Bradford and district a better place to live, work, play and visit.

One of the ways of getting everyone pulling together has been to raise funds for my two very local charities, Down Syndrome Training & Support Services Ltd and the Wishing Well Appeal.

During the year, my Lord Mayor’s Appeal Committee members, led by chairman Manoj Joshi, have organised numerous events, small and large, held in schools, colleges, the university, community centres, places of worship, hotels, restaurants, clubs, libraries and businesses, which have been supported by lots of warm, and generous people individually and collectively. Everyone has worked hard and given their best to raise thousands of pounds.

However, the Dragonboat Festival is the biggest one! It is one of the last major events and we are all set to end with a big splash. That’s not a weather prediction! The Dragonboat Festival in Roberts Park, Saltaire, hopefully will enjoy brilliant sunshine and it would be good to have that. Whatever the weather, we confidently expect a record number of participants and large, enthusiastic crowds of spectators and supporters. This is an event which makes a huge contribution to the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, which for my year is Down Syndrome Support & Training Services Ltd and the Wishing Well Appeal.

The Down Syndrome Training and Support Service Ltd is a unique charity based at the Pamela Sunter Centre, Whitley Street, Bingley. Their work is designed to support children and young people with Down syndrome and their families and also the professionals who work with them. Some families travel for over two hours to access their services and the staff based at the centre travel all over England – and even beyond – to provide training in the inclusion, education and development of children with Down syndrome.

The service was developed in 2000 for four families, all of whom had a young child with Down syndrome and the charity is still run to this day by parents. All of the directors are parents and two of the staff are young adults with Down syndrome.

The ethos of the charity is that they believe that all children with Down syndrome deserve the same opportunities as other children.

The centre provides training, early intervention, speech and language sessions. They run a weekly youth club and give vital support via telephone, email, social media, home visits and counselling. They also arrange external social activities for example, bowling, street dance and summer trips.

The Wishing Well Appeal is the other half of the charity, and will provide small grants for organisations and smaller groups across the Bradford district.

There are some fantastic things going on throughout the area organised by the community and voluntary sector and it can often be difficult for groups and organisations to find funding for their projects, events and activities.

The Appeal would like to be able to offer these smaller pots of funding to enable these groups to fulfil their dreams and enhance their projects further without having to spend extra time raising money.

The Wishing Well Appeal will be beneficial to many groups across the Bradford district, rather than just supporting one or two particular charities.

The funds raised so far have already made a huge difference to Down Syndrome Training & Support Services Ltd and over 30 small community groups and individuals so there is visible and practical evidence to showcase what has been achieved by funds generously raised by the kind and hard-working people of the Bradford district .

I am grateful to everyone who has backed the appeal during my year. There have been a whole variety of contributions – planned events and unexpected cheques. But the Dragonboat Festival on June 22, 23 and 24, now the biggest of its kind in the world, is truly a big one.

I am grateful to John Galt, Razwana Mahmood and their team for the amazing organisation they have put in to this event. Council officers at all levels have been unstinting in their promotion of the Dragonboat Festival. This is an event when both the teams and spectators represent many aspects of Bradford life, including people from different faiths.

It is one of the great occasions of the Bradford year for demonstrating to the wider world that Bradfordians from many different backgrounds can have fun together while raising money for a good causes – and doing it within an amenity which is an integral part of a World Heritage Site.

There will also be teams from across Yorkshire taking part. However, as well as what is going on in the water, there will be all sorts of attractions on land – children’s entertainment, games, catering stands, charity stands, a bar and so much more. I have always believed that the Lord Mayor’s role is about encouraging people within the district to see themselves as belonging to one another and to feel good about a common Bradford citizenship.

This festival offers a programme which enables us to do just that and raise plenty of funds for the Lord Mayor’s Charity for other good causes.