TAF Sharif is still getting used to wearing the chains of office after being named as Tameside’s first-ever Muslim Deputy Mayor.
But she and Civic Mayor Mike Glover have already got to work on making the role more than just turning up, cutting ribbons and posing for photos.
This is a year of building links with communities and reaching out to different ethnicities, sexual orientations, political persuasions, religions and other things that make the borough.
Already interview requests have come in from around the world after Mossley Councillor Sharif was nominated for the role.
And speaking exclusively to The Correspondent, she outlined what she and Cllr Glover want to happen.
She said: “My perspective was I really want our communities to come together and I wanted to utilise my role, being the first non-white deputy mayor, as an opportunity to show you can break barriers.
“We’ve already talked about going into those pockets, those areas, where you don’t necessarily see – for example, there’s a west African community in Ashton.
“They do events but they mostly do it among themselves. I want to get people to know them and bring the communities together.
“When I joined Tameside Council in 2016, I was the only councillor from an ethnic minority. In thought, ‘Where’s the diversity?’
“I then found out there are different communities in areas but thought, ‘Why are people not inter-mingling? Why doesn’t one community know about the other?’
“Now I feel the diversity has become better.
“In Tameside, there are diverse communities but everyone really does things in isolation. I want to bring them together, so does Mike.”
Cllr Sharif, who is a trustee of Homestart HOST and is a governor at Buckton Vale Primary and Stalyhill Infants schools, is also determined – along with Cllr Glover – to make the Mayor more proactive.
That includes making children more aware of what they need to do to be good citizens.
She added: “We thought we should go to events involving different communities, so that can see someone from a different one.
“People could see you’ve other people from other areas doing things. It’s not just about colour – you’ve got age, gender, sexuality, there are so many factors.
“But seeing me where I am can help them reach out to us. The hope is they’ll reach out with various issues, rather than brush things under the carpet.
“I hope they can see someone who they feel looks like them and feel, ‘OK, I can trust this person and go to them.’
“And while each councillor knows their patch, I won’t know, for example, what goes on in Droylsden as that’s not my patch.
“As councillors, we don’t have the opportunities to talk about communities in the context of a certain issue.
“For example, we target particular communities on domestic violence as we know it happens across them all but some, particularly south Asian ones, don’t speak out about it.
“This is where myself, as Deputy Mayor, would like to make this the year, the first time there’s someone of an ethnic minority in the Mayorship, we actually do proactive engagement.
“I’ve already asked, ‘What organisations are out there? Tell me the hard to reach ones and let Mike or I make that initial contact.’
“And in schools, it’ll be about learning about the Government system, what voting is for and what the Mayor does.
“It’s about getting more young people engaged in what makes a good citizen – we’ll be pro-active in that way.”
Cllr Sharif has already performed some of the more ‘traditional’ Deputy Mayoral duties – not least by attending Mossley’s Whit Walks as the town’s community gets back together after enforced separations.
But with the emphasis on Cllr Glover taking the lead on decisions made, work is going on behind the scenes.
She told The Correspondent: “It may seem like we just turn up to cut ribbons but it’s also about building stronger communities.
“Building stronger individuals. I hope someone comes up to me and says, ‘I’m interested in doing this, can you do something,’ or even, ‘I’ve got a problem.’
“We’re eyes and ears also because we go all around the borough, which ward councillors don’t really do as they’re so engrossed in their own ward work.
“I met with Mike to put our heads together and chat about the role.
“I deputise when he can’t do certain events but being the first non-white deputy, I thought I had to bring in my own ideas and views and he’s been very open to them.
“At first I thought it wasn’t a big deal but when the mayor-making ceremony happened, I thought, ‘Wow, this is quite something.’
“This is definitely a good thing for Tameside in terms of breaking barriers – and this year, we’ll be more proactive in reaching out to people.”