Ilford Community Initiative (ICI) held their first Annual General Meeting ( AGM) gathering and networking event on Sunday, 2nd October 2022.

The event held at Seven Kings Methodist Church with much excitement and enthusiasm of ICI Members which  consisted of AGM reports, presentations by the working group members Ononna Akhtar Thuli, Khaled Noor, Noorjahan Begum and Nurul Islam.
The ICI Election Commission oversaw the successful election of the inaugural ICI Executive Committee Members. This was followed by a short workshop where members gave feedback about their priorities for ICI work plan in the coming year.
The newly elected Excecutive Committee Members are: Nurul Islam, Khaled Noor, Noorjahan Begum, Muhit Uddin, Forhad Hussain, Nasim Ahmed and Onannah Akther.

The AGM and networking event included food, singing Nasheed and speeches garnering a distinguished audience from all walks of life with noticeable attendance of women, young people, community leaders, professionals including lawyers, accountants, NHS doctors and health workers, businessmen and many other professional backgrounds.
ICI Working Group Co-ordinator Barrister Khaled Noor in his speech highlighted that “ICI is a voluntary community platform for local community members with the aim to provide opportunities for networking, to promote communitycohesion, and to facilitate debate and dialogue for empowerment and better community for all”.
Community leader Nurul Islam stated that “this is a wonderful new platform for growing British-Bangladeshi communities in Redbridge which will create an opportunity to have our collective voice is heard. People of British-Bangladeshi heritage are one the fastest growing communities in Redbridge. We will work closely with other communities, elected representatives and decision makers of the local authority to promote the best interests of our community”.
Community organiser Noorjahan Begum stated “this is a great opportunity for members, friends, family to get together. ICI aims to work in partnership with others in tackling topical social issues including growing Islamophobia and discrimination that exists within our society. This year we would like to encourage participation in ICI from more females, young people and older residents ”.

The event was put together by members of the ICI Working Group. Special thanks for all involved for their support and hard work to make the event a success. “