Local Sporting Heroes at the Sports For All Awards Ceremony

Date published: 20/03/2006

Sports For All celebrated the achievements of individuals from Greater Manchester at their annual presentation evening on Thursday 16 March.

The ceremony was held at Rochdale Town Hall and was attended by the Mayor, Cllr Ashley Dearnley. Also present was Cllr Angela Coric who together with the Presidents of various Mosque, have played a key role in promoting a multi-faith community. Representatives from Churches, youth workers and Community Centre Managers from Greater Manchester were also present.

The evening began with Awards to UKIM Manchester Under 19’s Badminton team. They successfully defended the trophy they won last year. 

A special award was presented by Julie Durrant and the Tournament’s Sponsor, to two talented badminton players, both aged sixteen, who proved to be a cut above the rest .

Deeplish Neeli collected the community football shield. The team defeated Rochdale Bilal Legends in the closely contested final .

The Revered James Reed then introduced a unity football event. This match took place following the London Bombings. The Revered explained how his team were able to arrange the match between the multi faith team and Rochdale Council in a short space of time. The multi-faith team consisted of youngsters from various mosque and churches.

Mr John Patterson, Executive Director of Rochdale Council congratulated both the Rev. James and Mr Lee Murphy in successfully completing this project.

Mr Patterson and the Mayor presented the achievement awards to the organisers and the participants.    
 
Spotland Golden cricketers finished runners up to ADAB of Bury in last years indoor Cricket tournament. This year they went one better and celebrated their success. Both Rochdale’s Cllr Angela Coric and the President of Golden Mosque - the oldest Mosque in the North West, were on hand to present the awards to the team captain .   

The final award was the services to the community award. The award was presented to Mr Ismail Fulat, the Manager of KYP Community Centre in Rochdale. The Mayor spoke of Mr Fulat’s dedication and commitment towards meeting the needs of one of the most economically deprived communities in Greater Manchester. The Mayor was joined by Mr Farooq, the President of one of the mosques situated close to KYP. He acted as a representative of the various mosques in support of the award to Mr Fulat.

There were other awards. Notably to the volunteers of the year. Mr Ijaz Moin and Tahseen Ali, both seventeen, received certificates of achievement. Their role in organising and promoting multi faith events, using the medium of Sport received special recognition.

The event was closed by Sports For All chairperson, Mr Asif Rafiq.