Arqam-Al Hadeed, has been awarded a British Muslim Award for his work as Member of Youth Parliament for Leeds. The British Muslim Awards recognise a wide range of achievements from outstanding Muslim individuals across the UK who positively impact business, charity, sport, arts, culture, religious advocacy, education and medicine among others, while simultaneously and unknowingly battle negative stereotypes. Hadeed was shortlisted in the Young Muslim Achiever of the year category.
Hadeed has been a Member of Youth Parliament since 2017, representing over 180,000 young people aged between 11-18 who live, go to work or school in Leeds. Members of Youth Parliament ensure that the voices of younger people – nationally, regionally and locally – are heard.
Commenting on his award, Arqam-Al Hadeed, Member of Youth Parliament for Leeds said: “This is just a start of my journey! I have and always will try my best to represent the youth who have put their trust in me by electing me as their representative.
“I want to ensure that the young people of all races, religions and cultures are heard at every level of government. So that young people understand British values and integrate while benefiting in our society.
“Finally I would like to congratulate the British Youth Council and the UK Youth Parliament on our achievement.”
Members of Youth Parliament are one of the only people, other than Members of Parliament, who sit on the green benches of the House of Commons. During the sitting, the most important issues to young people are debated following the Make Your Mark campaign.
In 2018, Arqam-Al Hadeed was one of the many members who spoke on the issue of knife crime in the Commons chambers. “How many more people need to be stabbed for this Government to realise the need to put appropriate measures in place?” he said. Last month, UK Youth Parliament launched their campaign ‘Action Against Knife Crime’, which calls for a significant reduction in knife crime across the UK.
Speaking about the award ceremony, Irfan Younis, CEO of event organisers, Oceanic Consulting said: “I’d like to congratulate all the winners and every finalist from the 7th British Muslim Awards 2019.
“Every year I think we’ve seen the best the British Muslim community has to offer but every year I’m blown away by just how special the talent is and just how hard people work to service their communities. “I already look forward to seeing what next year has to offer; I have no doubt that the Muslim community will continue to thrive and act as leaders for future generations to come.”