Emdad Rahman
THE HEDGECOCK Community Centre in Barking hosted a large gathering of locals as part of the official launch party of the Leftley Sports Club (LSC).
Guests in attendance included Council Leader Darren Rodwell and Deputy Leader Saima Ashraf, along with ward councillors Rocky Gill, Lynda Rice and Faruk Choudhury.
Opening the event, Leftley Sports Club Chair Muhammed Ali commented, “Myself and General Secretary Anwar Hussain came up with the idea of a sports club to help engage our community better and to try to help get people active in sports. What was a spark of an idea in our back garden is now flourishing and running as a successful community sports club.
“I thank my management team for their immense hard work and dedication behind the scenes to make this all a reality. We are delighted with our progress, but there is still much work to do.”
Cllr Rodwell took part in a fun penalty shootout with Cllr Ashraf – and saved three spot kicks! He said, “It’s great to be here today and to see so many happy and smiling faces. Health is big on the agenda and congratulations Leftley Sports Club for your level of voluntary engagement as well as making sporting activities fun and accessible.”
An award ceremony saw Cllr Rodwell and LSC Chair Muhammed Ali hand certificates and a copy of the Guinness World Records 2018 Almanac to youngsters Hamza Hussain, Ibrahim Jawar, Mehdi Abedin, Samim Hussain and Younus Islam for their dedication to sports.
Dr Noor Jahan has been running popular women only sessions every Saturday at Mayesbrook Park. The highly regarded Consultant Radiologist shared an insight into the activities of the group, saying, “Health is a great priority, and we have taken into account a few factors to enable us to increase numbers. This includes making sessions fun, whereby our participants enjoy the social side of our meets as well. The sessions are short and we work with the men’s group to ensure one parent can exercise while the other stays with the children at home. We have made good progress and had great fun along the way.”
There was a short health presentation from personal fitness trainer Milad Ahsan on the benefits of healthy eating and testimonials from Club Treasurer Forhad Altafi, and “Dads & Lads” regulars Ibrahim Kawser and Hamza Hussain.
Jenny Houlihan, Area Manager from the Barking & Dagenham Community Healthy Lifestyle Team, spoke about physical activity sessions for children and young people as well as physical activity sessions and healthy lifestyle classes that help families.
Houlihan and the team had a stall at the launch and were kept busy offering health advice and carrying out BMI and medical health check ups.
Vice chair Aktar Ahmed and General Secretary Anwar Hussain spoke about the aims and objectives of Leftley Sports Club before Cllr Ashraf took to the stage. The councillor was impressed with the day and concluded, “We are really pleased to see the progress of this great club and the impact it has had in the local community has been so positive. There are lots of women taking part and the fact that families are working on their schedules to enable members to join these activities is a great indicator of just how well things are progressing. Congratulations to everybody involved.”
Leftley Sports Club, in association with Barking & Dagenham Community Health, is now an accredited healthy lifestyle partner for the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham.
•LSC’s run, walk and talk sessions at Mayesbrook Park are free of charge and are held every Saturday from 10.30am. Women only sessions take place at 11.30 am. The sessions are open to everybody. On Sunday there is cycling, along with Dads & Lads football.
•For more information about fun sporting activities, email: Leftley.Club@gmail.com or call: Muhammed Ali on 07956-486 137 Abul Hussain 07956-973 460
•Read more about it: Leftley Sports Club announces official launch party Get set go for Leftly Sports Club ladies
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