Abdul named Oldham Town of Culture ambassador

Peshkar’s Chair, Abdul Malik Ahad, is one of 14 ambassadors chosen to champion Oldham during its year as Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture.

Oldham Council announced the line-up in September. The ambassadors were put forward by organisations on the town’s Cultural Partnership Board, and they include actors, artists, writers, students and community leaders. Novelist Phaedra Patrick, Youth Mayor Hassan Ali Jabbar and poet Caitlin O’Ryan are among them.

Abdul first came to Peshkar as a young person, and the organisation he now leads still exists for people like him. It gives diaspora, marginalised and hard to reach young people a way into the arts. The work has grown – Peshkar has now worked in 15 countries – but most of it still starts with a first session in a room in the borough.

Over the coming months the ambassadors will be at events across Oldham, sharing what’s on through their own networks and getting more people involved. They’ll also be telling their own stories.

Abdul’s started in Werneth Park at Peshkar’s very first workshop 35 years ago.

See what’s on during the Town of Culture year at whatson.oldham.gov.uk/town-of-culture