Celebrating International Women’s Day-Sidra Naeem Deputy Lieutenant in Essex.
Today as we mark International Women’s Day across the world, the Havering Daily is paying tribute to women across our borough who have made a big impact on our community.
One of these ladies is Sidra Naeem who is Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Essex. She has been tirelessly, volunteering in multiple projects making a notable contribution to the Havering community.
She is a member of numerous networks related to interfaith. She is the secretaryand public speaker on the Havering Interfaith Forum (HIFF). She organises and delivers lectures on a wide range of topics related to interfaith monthly. She actively arranges social events and Interfaith Quiz Nights and annual cricket matches between Havering Islamic Cultural Centre (HICC) and HIFF.
This promotes excellent interfaith relations through sport & food & helps the public to understand other faiths, eliminating stigma & myths which can lead to misunderstandings, extremism & celebrates the similarities in faiths, uniting everyone in peace and harmony.
Sidra liaises with outside agencies to invite speakers to deliver talks at HIFF. Topics have included Domestic Violence, Race Hate, FGM, Counselling, Homeopathy &Healthy Eating helping people with stress, anxiety and mental health issues. This has impacted by raising awareness of issues in society and strategies on how to support people from diverse backgrounds in the wider community.
She attends the independent advisory meetings for Met Police, offering input on race/faith hate crime and homelessness. Issues affecting faith and the cultural overlap& differing sects within faiths have been raised with good practice and advice on individual cases promoted. This liaison has taught others knowledge of &sensitivity to the breadth of the denominations developing an open-minded &tolerant attitude, respecting the rights of individuals to their beliefs and practices showing flexibility.
Sidra has prepared displays on Interfaith and cultural awareness & held stalls at Havering Council & other organisations events such as the Havering Show. She has presented lectures for Havering Council on International Day of the Disabled. In line with significant dates in the religious calendars, she actively participates in delivering workshops on culture & diversity, taking part in various themed weeks (Festivals, International Religion and National Interfaith Week)
She is invited to churches and other establishments and requested to deliver lectures, write and deliver public speeches at times of world atrocities & conflict to promote community cohesion, unity, peace and harmony. She participates in Remembrance Sunday and Holocaust Day services. This enables the community to understand &support the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion in any setting.
Sidra voluntarily visits schools & educational settings to deliver lessons, workshops and assemblies on faith and culture. She has additionally hosted approximately 40 visits from schools and Scouts per year at HICC, preparing talks to educate them and taking time off work to administer these visits.
HICC is diverse in ethnicity, enabling her to communicate with the local BAME community. Through the after-school clubs there, she has taught the children moral values, helping to build relationships of mutual trust and understanding. She has also been delivering lectures on topics of religion, Interfaith, health and etiquettes there since years.
In an environment where there is stigma surrounding mental health, he offers free pastoral advice, spiritual care, mentoring and religious guidance to the committee, adults, staff and students from all cultural backgrounds, reducing the stigma. Whilst maintaining confidentiality with accountability, socialising in a friendly manner, allows him to listen to their personal problems and also help people who have English as an additional language, raising self-confidence of people from vulnerable backgrounds.
Sidra set up Feed the Needy, a charitable organisation, which receives funds from donors. This money is then used towards providing hot food for the homeless. Sidrahas been feeding the homeless at the Christian based charity, Hope4Havering since February 2017 and the Soup Kitchen at HICC since 2017. Additionally vulnerable and low-income families have been fed throughout the pandemic at the international organisation called Al Huda Welfare Foundation UK foodbank in Chadwell Heath branch and Khalid Salim Foundation foodbank in Collier Row and Romford branches since December 2020 onwards.
Weekly, approximately 200 people are being supported from the food and integrates vulnerable people into the community.
Sidra continues to accomplish good works and is an asset to have in the Havering community, benefitting not just her own community but everyone from all walks of life.
Well done Sidra for being a fantastic role model.
