An award winning council youth worker who has spent a lifetime overcoming racial discrimination where it exists is helping to break down divisions in local communities. Oz Sadiq returned as a young adult helper to a youth club he once attended himself in South Bank, Middlesbrough, and has gone on to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people through outreach work across Teesside and the North-East over a 40 year career.
Earlier this year the 59-year-old, who is employed by Redcar and Cleveland Council, picked up the ‘Community Ambassador’ award at the annual Tees Valley Equality, Diversion and Inclusion (EDI) Awards, while accompanied by his 85-year-old mother Fehmida, a retired social worker. He said this was “encouragement for me to continue working together with communities in Teesside to ensure everybody feels seen and heard”.
Mr Sadiq, who also served in the British Army as a soldier with the Green Howards, is behind a project to raise awareness of many ‘forgotten’ foreign and Commonwealth soldiers, who fought and died in the First and Second World War alongside their British counterparts. This brings together multi-cultural representatives from local mosques, Sikh temples and African churches in order to lay wreathes at the cenotaph outside the entrance of Albert Park on Remembrance Day, with Mr Sadiq hoping to fund a permanent memorial for fallen soldiers in this category.
Mr Sadiq, who also helps out as a volunteer at a food kitchen for homeless people in Middlesbrough, said he battled prejudice where it existed and described how he had experienced racial discrimination.
Mr Sadiq, a Muslim of African-Indian descent who was born in Kenya and came to England with his parents when he was nine years old, said: “I have persevered in being a positive role model. I would like to think I am still continuing to make a difference in the lives of young people.”
Mr Sadiq, who was previously named ‘South Bank Citizen of The Year’ and also nominated for similar recognition in Middlesbrough in 2019, has received praise for his work with The Army, assisting with both careers and recruitment, and being presented with a Lord Lieutenant’s certificate and a general’s commendation.
A citation in 2019 from Army Major Alistair Carnegie-Brown, his former commanding officer, said he had “singlehandedly, dramatically changed the diversity and inclusivity” of the annual Remembrance Day ceremony in Middlesbrough, which was an “extremely important and impressive achievement”. He also described how he helped recruit Army reservists from ethnic minorities in Middlesbrough, making “strong relationships” with local organisations and faith groups.
Mr Sadiq, a former lance corporal, said his great grandfather and great uncle assisted and fought alongside British troops abroad. But he did not always have such a good experience with The Army.
He said: “On my first day I was only 17 and experienced racism. I joined the Green Howards, my local regiment, and gave my documents to a colour sergeant.
“He made some scribbles in my paperwork and said ‘I don’t want f****** n*****s in the Green Howards’. Things went downhill from there, I was beaten up and had pork put in my locker, because I am a Muslim.”
Mr Sadiq left the regular Army after just a year, but later signed up as a reservist, attempting to overcome what he felt at the time was institutional racism.
He originally lived in Birmingham, but moved to South Bank in the late 1970s when his father got a job at the former Redcar steelworks and said he lived in an “all white council estate”. He said: “I was only ten years old at the time and had children coming up to me saying things like ‘n***** pull the trigger bang, bang bang’.
“The South Asian community here has always been very prominent since I arrived, many came because of the steelworks, the docks, ICI etc. There weren’t a lot of other ethnic groups though, apart from a handful of Afro-Carribean families in Middlesbrough.
“Now it’s a lot more diverse, some of it is the student population from the university, but there are people settling here and coming here to work, for example in healthcare.”
Mr Sadiq described the riots which happened last summer in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool after racial tensions were inflamed by social media posts as “deja vu”, while also giving his thoughts on recent violent disorder in Grangetown. He said: “Racism has never gone away, it was the same back in the day with the same sort of ideology.
“Families have been targeted purely because they are black. There is a lot of misinformation and disinformation perpetuating the same myths.”
Mr Sadiq said he understood there was a level of disengagement and dissatisfaction among some people due to Government policies and the financial situation many faced. He said: “People are struggling, they are using foodbanks etc, but it’s easy to blame migrants and find scapegoats.
“It’s an emotive issue. A lot of us [migrants] are here because our ancestors fought for this country and our families were born under British rule with British passports, who had the right to come here.”
Mr Sadiq now works on a detached youth project called ‘Streets’, while also helping with sessions in youth centres in Eston and Grangetown. He said: “Prior to that I worked for Middlesbrough Council for many years, I’ve also worked in Hartlepool setting up youth projects there and across the region.
“There are divisions with communities and I want to create projects that bring about integration and community cohesion. I am a changemaker and I’m here to make a change.”
:: Anyone wanting to find out more about the Tees Valley Diverse Communities Remembrance Memorial project can e-mail [email protected]
