Oldham Mayor to step back to care for his family

THE Civic Mayor of Oldham, Councillor Zahid Chauhan OBE, has decided to take a step back and reduce his mayoral duties to care for his family.

Cllr Chauhan, who also practises as a local GP, began his term donning the chain and robes in May and has already made a huge impact in the role.

But the Alexandra ward councillor has announced that his wife Afsheen, who is the Mayoress, has been diagnosed with a “very serious illness” which means she is unable to support him in the position.

As such, Cllr Chauhan has said he will reduce his involvement in civic commitments so that he can “support my wife and our three children during this difficult time”.

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Eddie Moores, will step up to carry out mayoral duties when Cllr Chauhan is unavailable.

“This decision is not one I have taken lightly, as holding this role is one of the greatest honours of my life and I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it so far,” said Cllr Chauhan in a statement.

“However, as a husband and as a father, I am sure people understand that my devastated family and young children need me now more than ever.

“I trust my good friend and colleague, Cllr Eddie Moores, will do a fantastic job as Deputy Mayor during occasions when I am understandably unavailable.

“In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has sent in messages and phone calls of support so far. We politely now ask people to respect the privacy of my family and I during this time, thank you.”

When becoming the Mayor, Cllr Chauhan was eager to make as big an impact as possible on the lives of local people.

In an update to the role’s more traditional approach to charity fundraising, he launched an initiative called ‘Truly Wished’ where people across Oldham can nominate someone they know who they think deserves to have a wish granted.

Every nomination must explain why the person was nominated, what their wish would be and how it would make a difference to that person’s life.

All wishes up to a maximum value of £500 are eligible for consideration, with the final decision on which ones are granted being made by the Mayoral Committee.

The Mayor is donating his full mayoral allowance of £16,495 to the cause and has already received support from some local businesses.

For more information, visit www.trulywished.org