Aldermen of Crawley Borough Council sign unity pledge
Yesterday, Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah, welcomed the Aldermen of Crawley Borough Council to sign the unity pledge. Alderman Councillor Brian Quinn and Alderman Colin Lloyd joined the Mayor to add their signatures to further signify the unity of Crawley.
The unity pledge celebrates the diversity and inclusivity of Crawley and was signed by community leaders, council members and other key representatives from across the local community last month at the first unity event.
The November event opened with a speech from Councillor Michael Jones (Leader of Crawley Borough Council), followed by speeches from Councillor Yasmin Khan (Cabinet member for Public Protection), the Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah, Councillor Duncan Crow (Leader of the opposition) and Crawley’s MP Peter Lamb. Community leaders also spoke at the event including representatives from the Hindu faith, Christian faith and Muslim faith, as well as Marilyn Mansfield-Clark from Diverse Crawley, Paul Taylor-Burr from Crawley Campaign Against Racism and Youth Mayor, Elijah Norton.
Compered by Chris Oxlade from the Crawley Town Centre BID, the November event also featured fantastic performances from Tamil Learning Centre Crawley dance group, Ukraine soloist Sofia and DMT school musical theatre group.
Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah said: “It was my pleasure to welcome Alderman Councillor Brian Quinn and Alderman Colin Lloyd to the parlour today. I am delighted that their signatures have been added to the unity pledge – further demonstrating our commitment to celebrating the diversity of Crawley. This unity pledge means so much to all those in our community and I look forward to it being displayed in the Town Hall so that future generations have the opportunity to understand its significance.”
Alderman Colin Lloyd said: “I was very pleased to hear of this initiative by the council and other community leaders. One of Crawley’s greatest strengths lies in its longstanding diversity and inclusivity and I’m delighted to join in signing the unity pledge.”
Alderman Councillor Brian Quinn said: “As former Mayor of Crawley, I have always maintained that Crawley has been a fine example in Britain of a multicultural society where our community have worked together to develop a prosperous culturally and compassionate society. And, of course, Crawley’s most striking feature is the diversity of its residents - each ethnic group enriches the cultural life of this wonderful town as we see here today.”