Oldham Mayor's heartbreak and hope

The Mayor of Oldham Dr Zahid Chauhan OBE has opened his heart in a wide-ranging interview, touching on the tragic loss of his wife and his concerns over the future of food banks. 

He talked with compassion how the town supported him in an exclusive interview with Oldham Community Radio 99.7 fm, describing his wife Afsheen, mother of three, who died earlier this year after a battle with cancer, as his ‘personal backbone’.

He said: ”They say behind every successful man, there is a woman. 

"Actually, she was truly that woman … because she allowed me to fulfil my dreams and allowed me to do the things I wanted to do she genuinely believed this is the right thing to do, not live for yourself.

“We always had this belief in saying we don't want to live for ourselves only, and there is more to do in life.

"We've been blessed. 

“She genuinely believed in that and supported me, that's why I managed to do my bit in this, for this community and society.

“It’s never easy to lose your loved one, “ he said.

“Especially when you're so dependent on that person, or even if you're not dependent on them.

“But on the other side, then you also look at the positive time you have.

“So if I, if anyone, believes that I have done anything positive, she contributed to that.

"And if I do anything positive in the future, it's due to her contribution.

“Her contribution did not stop. It's not going to stop.

"Her contribution made me who I am, and it will remain.”

He continued: ”You can lose people physically but emotionally they don't die, they always live with you.

“I think the emotional death is the worst one, not the physical death.

"Physical death just liberates you from illness and suffering.

"I think it's when emotionally you give up on people, that's where the bad news is.

“But also, we are blessed.

"There are people who are in a much worse situation than I am.

"I'm extremely thankful that the community of Oldham stood with me.

“I received lovely messages and cards during my wife’s illness.

"I understand Church’s prayed for her, Synagogues prayed for her, Mosques prayed for her, Temples prayed for her, and that's what the beauty of Oldham is - we are a community that can come together and help and support each other.

“I think of her funeral, thousands of people attending on such a short notice.

"That is a testimony to the community of Oldham and how loving and caring we can be.

“So that's why I say to people, if anyone tells you Oldham is a bad place - no, it's not.

"I'm a living example of that. Oldham and the communities of Oldham supported me.”

During the 2022/23 year and as Deputy Mayor of Oldham, Dr Chauhan donated his entire Deputy Mayoral allowance to Oldham Foodbank.

During the 2023/24 year as Mayor of Oldham he gave his allowance to Truly Wished and for the current year 2024/25 it will be given to an Oldham foodbank, a first for an Oldham Mayor.

He said: ”Charities are doing amazing work and as always we'll carry on supporting them.

“I think as a society, we have accepted it's okay to have food banks but unfortunately I see it getting worse.

“I think the question should be ‘on one side, why do we, as a society, accept it is okay giving foreign aid to other countries - not that I’ve got anything against that.

"But on the other side we’ve got children here in my town who are relying on food banks.

“So I somehow don't feel comfortable with that part, naturally I will say I’ll feed my own children first before I go and feed someone else’s children, or at least we will share what we have.

“But here we have children who are going to school on empty stomachs and then you're saying we are trying to change the world.

"Somehow, this doesn't sit comfortably with me.

“I think I have this issue with society that we accept it as a normal that we should have food banks.  

"I don't think we should have food banks, they should not be allowed in the society because that should be the states responsibility.

“if you are truly a welfare state, it should be the state's responsibility to feed it’s people and make sure they have food on the table.

“And we know there is a stigma attached that people don't want to work and that's why they use food banks.

"It’s a fact that we have people working two, sometimes three jobs and are still struggling to eat, trying to pay electric and gas bills, council tax and everything else that comes in and then after that see how much money is left to feed a family, this is a daily struggle and I think as a society we just don't talk about those things.”

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