Emdad Rahman

Emdad Rahman
MBE
Native name এমদাদ রহমান
Born May 1976 (age 39)
Tower Hamlets, London, England
Residence Aldersey Gardens, Barking, Barking and Dagenham, London, England
Nationality British
Ethnicity Bengali
Occupation Journalist, blogger, poet
Religion Islam
Parent(s) Lutfur Rahman (father)
Website www.tsu-doh-nimh.blogspot.co.uk

Emdad Rahman (Bengali: এমদাদ রহমান; born May 1976)[1] is an English freelance journalist, blogger and football poet.

Early life

Rahman was born in London, England.[2] His parents are from Bangladesh[1][3] and his father is Lutfur Rahman.[4]

At the age of 17, after completing his GCSEs, Rahman memorised the whole Qur'an.[4]

Writing career

Rahman is a freelance writer[5] and journalist.[3] He is a commentator for The Guardian online opinion site and edits the blog All in a Day's Work. He is a writer, researcher and London correspondent for Mathaba News and English editor of English weekly newspaper EuroBangla,[6] news editor at Bangla Mirror, editorial assistant at the London Muslim and chief editor at CyberSylhet.[7] He has a voluntary unpaid role as the executive editor at London Bangla, a bilingual free weekly newspaper in Tower Hamlets.[5]

Rahman is also a published football poet,[5] In August 2007, his book The Greatest Game on Earth - A Collection of Footballing Verse was published.[8] In August 2009, his second book Seeking Henri Delaunay: A Poetic Chronicle of the UEFA European Football Championship 2008 was published.[9] In March 2010, his third book Kings of Africa: Lyrical Recitals from the African Cup Of Nations - Angola 2010 was published.[10]

Rahman has published over 500 football poems, his work focuses mainly on unique community activism and positive stories featuring amongst other things homelessness, sports, the arts and human inspiration.[11]

In March 2015, Rahman was interviewed by Nadia Ali on BBC Asian Network about Bangladesh independence.[12]

Other work

Rahman is an advisor for the British Transport Police.[6] He is Chair of Trustees at Amani Foundation, a charity which works with disadvantaged families, and with which he is involved with in Tower Hamlets. He is involved in many initiatives, working with children and have voluntarily raised hundreds of pounds for schools doing a charity walk of all the London bridges.[3] He is a Dementia Friends Champion and volunteers to raise awareness through the delivery of interactive information sessions.[11]

He also works as a Local Government Officer[3][13] a schools education and attendance advisor[14] and a school governor at his old primary school.[3] He is involved with caring for homeless people and coaching sport in Tower Hamlets and Barking and Dagenham.[15] He does volunteer work for the Whitechapel Mission and Tower Hamlets food bank. He is head coach of Stepney under 12 football team.[13] He teaches creative writing,[11] delivers football poetry workshops, presentations and talks during the weekends[5] with young people in Tower Hamlets teaching poetry and blogging.[13] He spends six hours every weekend teaching children at a cultural school[3] in East London.[6]

He has achieved a Level 9 football referees status and gained a FA Level 1 coaching certificate.[16] He is also an under 12 head football coach for Stepney Football Club. He is chairman of Essex based Scintilla Cricket Club - a grassroots cricket club run by volunteers.[11]

Awards and recognition

In 2004, Rahman received the civic award.[17] In 2005, he received the volunteer of the year award for "inspiration" in the field of voluntary work.[7] In 2006, he was one of five winner of the Community Champion Award by the UK Islamic Mission.[4] In 2007, he won the Canary wharf Group award for volunteering in sports.[17] In 2009, he was awarded contribution to the community for London and South at the Channel S Awards.[18] In the same year, he was awarded a second civic award and a community safety award for his journalism.[3] In 2011, he was named Londoner of the day.[11]

In 2012, he was one of the winners of the Special Recognition Award at the Bangladesh Football Association annual Awards Ceremony.[19] In 2013, he was awarded voluntary contribution to sport at the Channel S awards.[20] In the same year, he won his second Canary wharf Group award for volunteering in sports. He has also made the shortlist for The Muslim News awards for excellence[3] for times.[17]

In 2013, Rahman was appointed a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours.[17] In May 2015, he was granted Freedom of the City of London at a ceremony in Guildhall, London, in recognition of his outstanding voluntary work.[1]

Personal life

Rahman lived Tower Hamlets, London, England since the age of one,[3] before moving out 30 years later. He is still voluntarily and actively involved with community initiatives.[5] Rahman now lives and works in Aldersey Gardens,[1] Barking, London[2] with his wife and three children.[21]

Rahman is a running enthusiast, and has completed four 10 mile races,[21] including competing in three consecutive London Marathons,[6] climbing the three UK peaks,[11] raising funds for charity.[6]

On 29 August 2012, he carried the Paralympic Torch in Stratford, London for the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[2][21] On 21 July 2014, he ran 300 metres in the Queen's Baton Relay[13] near the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, after being nominated for his community work.[22]

Books

Year Title Publisher ISBN
2007 The Greatest Game on Earth - A Collection of Footballing Verse Ashwood House Publishing Ltd 978-0955487323
2008 Seeking Henri Delaunay: A Poetic Chronicle of the UEFA European Football Championship 2008 978-0955487361
2010 Kings of Africa: Lyrical Recitals from the African Cup of Nations - Angola 2010 978-1907031021

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cooke, Phoebe (12 May 2015). "Barking runner set to carry torch for the Paralympic Games". Barking & Dagenham Post. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Emdad Rahman". The 100. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Emdad Rahman". Deaf Dawah. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Emdad Rahman Presented With Community Champion Award". Saudi Arabia: Arab News. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Emdad Rahman". Tower Hamlets. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Emdad Rahman". Mathaba. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  7. 1 2 "News in brief - industry round up". Asian In Media. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "The Greatest Game on Earth - A Collection of Footballing Verse". Amazon.co.uk. 1 August 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "Seeking Henri Delaunay: A Poetic Chronicle of the UEFA European Football Championship 2008 [Paperback]". Amazon.co.uk. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Kings of Africa: Lyrical Recitals from the African Cup Of Nations - Angola 2010 [Paperback]". Amazon.co.uk. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Karim, Mohammed Abdul; Karim, Shahadoth (November 2015). British Bangladeshi Who's Who (PDF). British Bangla Media Group. p. 28. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "Brit Bangla Journos Explore Bangladesh Independence". BBC Asian Network. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Silverman, Natalie (23 July 2014). "Tower Hamlets officer runs with Queen’s Baton". London: East London Lines. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Emdad Rahman". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  15. ↑ Morton, Sophie (23 July 2014). "Queen’s Baton Relay role for Tower Hamlets volunteer". London: East London Advertiser. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "The Muslim News Awards for Excellence shortlist". The Muslim News. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Nominee Emdad Rahman MBE". Musim Awards. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  18. ↑ "Winners". Channel S Awards. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  19. ↑ "Special Recognition". Bangladesh Football Association (UK). Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  20. ↑ Rahman, Selim (11 November 2013). "Channel 'S' marvels community achievements for 2013". NRB Pedia.org. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  21. 1 2 3 Phillips, John (16 July 2012). "Barking runner set to carry torch for the Paralympic Games". Barking & Dagenham Post. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  22. ↑ Stein, Findlay; Frew, Craig (23 July 2014). "As it happened: Queen's Baton Relay, Day 40, Glasgow". BBC News. Retrieved 1 July 2015.

External links


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