‘I love our borough and want to give back’

Date published: 15 August 2014


MARIAM Waseem is a tireless and motivated young woman who can not give enough to her community.

At the age of 19 Mariam is on Oldham Youth Council where she is involved in tackling issues for local youngsters.

She was a member of the UK youth parliament for Oldham during 2013-2014 and had the opportunity to speak in the House of Commons about youth unemployment on behalf of the young people of Oldham.

After completing A-Levels in biology, philosophy, politics and geography at Oldham Sixth-Form College, she is the current regional secretary for UK Youth Parliament North-West.

She has also done a lot of work regionally to fight youth unemployment including attending the youth employment convention in London in 2013 and attending the International Youth Job Creation summit in September, 2013.

Mariam has also been selected to represent the UK by the European Youth federation, to attend the world forum for democracy in Strasbourg in November.

She is a member of the Dovestone youth rangers, which carries out conservation work.

Mariam also runs the league of young voters campaign across Oldham and Rochdale to increase voter turn out. So far, she has registered around 200 young people to vote across both boroughs.

Mariam said: “Being nominated for the Pride in Oldham Award is extremely humbling. I have been involved in a lot of community work because I love our borough and have always wanted to give back. I’m lucky to be from Oldham as it values its young people and has a lot of opportunities due to its excellent youth service. The experience and knowledge I’ve gained through my volunteer work has been invaluable and Oldham has helped me strive to be a role model for my peers.”

Mariam has been nominated by service provider Positive Steps —where she recently completed a placement in its volunteering department as part of the Debbie Abrahams Working for your Community Summer School.

A Positive Steps Volunteers spokesperson said: “Mariam was so interesting and giving. Everything she spoke about was about supporting other people. She just blew us away.”

l To nominate someone or a group for an award, email the required information to editor@oldham-chronicle.co.uk, using the word Pride in the subject line.