FIGHT
HATRED & HUNGER   THREATS
.....LET US TALK & SHARE; HAVE COFFEE WITH US & SMILE

WE'RE HERE TO SERVE:
BAME, LESS PRIVILEGED, HOMELESS, VERY OLD, HANDICAPPED & POVERTY-RIDDEN

On 16th December 2018 at 6pm AL-MARYAM & the HUMAN CLUB held its FIRST local community gathering at ST PAUL’s CHURCH [now WINCHESTER HALLS] ST2 0LL. We made out an occasion to stand by our Christian friends and well wishers ahead of their Christmas festival. It was an open assembly in which all faiths / no-faiths were welcome.

Being our FIRST community gathering AND amidst utterly rough weather, the management was expecting the attendance of nearly 55-60 people but to our astonishment there were 100+ people in the hall [sorry - some of our friends had to keep standing or to sit on the stairs]. Former Cllr M Aumir, his wife Mubsira Aumir and their family members played a vital role in conducting the whole show very diligently coupled with enthusiasm, energy and colourful valour. Their children presented a very impressive dialogue on stage taking the audience deep into the history of INTERFAITH relationship and thus earned a high applause & appreciation.

Cannon Falak Sher specially travelled from Manchester to participate in this function at ST PAUL’s CHURCH [now WINCHESTER HALLS] and he also addressed the friends with a meaningful message. He preferred to sacrifice his own session of Sunday Evening Prayer which he leads at his Wilbraham Road Church since decades.

Ch Waseem  of TV C-44 travelled from Manchester with his cam-equipment to cover this function and so did Mr Haider Hafeez of A1-AAJ TV who came from Nottingham to shoot and conduct our session especially – thus made their video reports run on the Continental, UK & Euro news bulletins of the next day.

Among the luminaries of STOKE ON TRENT, Cllrs Rita Dale, Alastair Watson, Andy Platt, S Gurmeet Singh Kallar, Ch M Pervez, Majid Khan, Amjid Wazir and former Chairman Bentilee N'hood Centre Ken Downs were very kind to grace our occasion. Many other Cllrs like Stephen Funnell and Sheila Pitt could not make their way because our program inadvertently clashed with Stoke Council’s Prayer / Carol Services which was being conducted in the Church of the Town Hall with exactly the same schedule; however, they conveyed their good feelings for us.

Amongst the other dignitaries there were notable community activists like Angela Glendenning, Sarah Watson, Mrs Musarrat, Javid Najmi, Lady Dian, Parminder Singh, Raja Riaz, Waqas Butt, Shahzad Tahir, Iftikhar Ahmad, Miss Fahmidah and so many other notables [extremely sorry for not mentioning them here because I’m not sure about correct spellings of their names].

Amongst the most respectable guests from Manchester, there were leading lawyers Maqbool Malik & Hina Malik [of media-known Malik Law Solicitors], Rana Khalid Rauf, Nawaz Gondal, Malik Manzoor and others.

Afterwards, a sumptuous meal – blend of English & Indian foods – was served which the local community and guests enjoyed and equally liked. During meal session there was fabulous interaction of community members with their local leadership.

Basharat Mehmood and Gursharam Singh presented ‘sufi kalam’ and played beautiful music while on stage which the audience praised too much.

Last, but not the least, our team members – media gurus Najeebullah and Iqbal Siddiqui; then the heavy pillar Kh Waseem Altaf; key members of the Sehri tribe were there – not only to participate in the pleasures of local community but also to contribute in successful running of the show.

Everyone got and hailed the message of LOVE & PEACE amongst the neighbourhood – curb the rising trends of EXTREMISM & TERRORISM – going beyond tolerance where no HATRED but ACCEPTANCE should prevail.

Everyone left smiling and with shining hopes – we’ll continue to meet like this......very soon......stay with us.