Categories: Global, London
Posted: Thursday 18 July 2013
The Patchwork Foundation launched the MP of the Year Awards in association with Mosaic Associates, the Three Faiths Forum and UpRising earlier this year and a group of very lucky students from Westminster Academy School were invited to the very first MP of the Year Awards Ceremony on 15th July. The event was hosted by Mr Speaker, Rt Hon John Bercow MP at the Speaker’s House.
Mosaic was delighted to be involved in the event as part of its involvement with the Patchwork Foundation, a politically neutral organization that aims to promote and encourage the positive integration of deprived and minority communities into civic society.
Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, Shadow Lord Chancellor and Mosaic Ambassador won two awards at the ceremony including MP of the Year Award! Speaking of the win, Mosaic’s National Director Jonathan Freeman commented: “We are so pleased for Sadiq, who is such a friend to Mosaic. This award is well deserved and comes hot on the heels of some recent and fantastic support he has given to Mosaic West Midlands, where he led the speakers at a special celebration event at Aston University in Birmingham to mark Mosaic’s achievements in the West Midlands.”
Commenting after his win, Sadiq Khan said: “I was born in Tooting, went to school here and now I am raising my family here – I wouldn’t want to be MP anywhere else. I have been Tooting’s Member of Parliament for over eight years now, and I have always taken great pride in having the opportunity to represent all of the people of Tooting, my home, in Parliament. In Tooting we are blessed with an incredibly diverse and harmonious community and being a Muslim and the son of Pakistani migrants, it has always been my priority to work hard to make sure I engage with, and represent, all of the religious and ethnic groups in my constituency. There are so many MPs who work extremely hard for their constituents and I am therefore very humbled to win this award. I would like to thank all of my constituents who nominated me. The Patchwork Foundation does a brilliant job encouraging both deprived and minority communities to participate in mainstream political life and I look forward to continuing to support their work in the future.”
Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, who met other Mosaic students in May, said: “I want to congratulate Patchwork Foundation for all the excellent work they have done over the last 12 months to help encourage the positive integration of deprived and minority communities into British political society and for establishing the ground breaking awards.
Anesa Krasniqi and Usmaan Hayat, Year 10 students from Westminster Academy and Mosaic Stars commented: “This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am very privileged to have been a part of. Thank you Mosaic! We feel privileged to have met so many Members of Parliament at the Speakers House.
It was a spectacular experience and we got the opportunity to meet lots of MPs and distinguished guests such as speaker John Bercow, journalist Martyn Lewis, John Leech from Liberal Democrats, Chris Grayling from the Conservative Party and Sadiq Khan from the Labour Party. MPs were judged on their work with the faith, ethnic, sexual orientation and deprived communities as well as those traditionally excluded from the political process.”
Rt Hon Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party said: “I want to congratulate Patchwork Foundation for all the excellent work they have done over the last 12 months to help encourage the positive integration of deprived and minority communities into British politics. I’m particularly happy to see so many Labour Members of Parliament nominated for these awards, and particular congratulations to my friend and colleague Sadiq for winning MP of the Year Award. I know how hard Sadiq works, not just in his own constituency of Tooting, but across the country to ensure that the views of all different communities are heard here in Westminster and he certainly deserves this award.”
