My grandfather came before World War Two, my father came in 1952 and I arrived from Pakistan as an 11 year old in 1958. I only attended Owler Lane Secondary school (now Fir Vale) for three and a half years, then trained as a skilled machinist in the engineering industry. In 1967 I joined the council’s Youth Service and in time completed my education, attending the Universities of Durham, Manchester and Bradford, achieving an MA in International Politics and Security Studies at the latter.

In the late 1980s I took a large group of people from the Pakistani Community to Unstone Grange residential centre to spend the weekend discussing the development of a community centre, which in due course became the Pakistan Muslim Centre.

Pakistan Muslim Centre, Attercliffe