Councillor Mohammad Ayub

THERE are many things that are truly wonderful about being the Mayor of Hyndburn and right up there with the best is that I get to see and be part of the fantastic work of our community groups and volunteers, who give their time and energy so freely to make where we live a better place to be.

A lot of hard work goes into organising community events and my wife and I have thoroughly enjoyed going along to lots of carnivals and festivals in the Borough, organised and managed by teams of community groups and volunteers.

We’ve been blessed with the glorious sunshine too, which always helps with the success of an outdoor event.

Oswaldtwistle Carnival, organised by a group of local residents, was a fabulous fun packed day where around 15,000 people came out to line the streets to cheer on the parade and to catch up at Whiteash and Foxhill fields for a full afternoon of entertainment and music.

We were honoured to be invited to lead the procession and to be part of such a happy sun filled, fun filled day.

Another fabulous family fun day was ‘Roar in the Gore’ held on July 1 in Bullough Park.

Organised by Ferngore Residents Association, it featured a climbing wall, bouncy castles, slides, a sound truck and a Gladiators sticks-type challenge, all enjoyed by around 2,000 people on the day.

Another great example of how the community comes together to put on a superb event for the community.

A week later we attended yet another brilliant local festival, the Rishton Festival held on July 7 at Hyndburn Academy.

Organised by the Rishton Festival Group, the theme this year was remembering the fallen of WW1. We marched in the parade with all the children who brought 200 giant poppies which they later planted in Hyndburn Academy’s fields.

This was yet another fantastic community event, thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Thank you to all the organisers and to all the others out there who work so hard to make these events happen and who raise lots of money for good causes too with raffles, stalls and collections which are so generously supported by Hyndburn people.

Last month we also remembered the fallen of the Great War at the Battle of the Somme Commemoration at the Accrington Pals Memorial on Sunday, July 1.

It was a poignant and thought provoking service in memory of the Accrington Pals and all the fallen of World War One, in this centenary year of the end of the war.

Looking from the past to the future now, it’s plain to see that we have many talented young people here in Hyndburn as we’ve been invited along to many events showcasing and celebrating our young people’s achievements recently.

These included the Pride of Accrington Lions Youth Awards and East Lancashire Scholars Celebration event at St Christopher’s CE School in Accrington.

We also attended Accrington & Rossendale College awards evening, making presentations to some of the award winners there.

This took me back a bit as I studied for my BTEC in Business there quite a few years ago now.

Well done and congratulations to everyone, it’s certain that we have many promising young people who look set to become the bright stars of the future here in Hyndburn.