Freedom of the City of London
Felicty Lyons, the Lady Mayoress said, “The Lord Mayor and I were delighted to nominate Shirley Islam and Farzana Khanom for the Freedom of the City of London in recognition of their vital work in supporting unpaid carers, who provide such a valuable contribution to their communities, filling a gap in our social care system.”
Anne Corbett, Cripplegate Councillor and Carers Champion said “In different and lovely ways Shirley and Farzana provide support and guidance for carers in the City of London. We are fortunate to have two strong women who understand carers and love helping people. The Freedom of the City of London is a well-deserved honour.”
Shirley Islam, founder of City Carers Community, shared that “I was surprised and honoured to receive this award. This recognition is shared with all of us unpaid carers and supporters. Since April 2020, City Carers Community have continued to raise our needs and challenges, to decision makers in the City, NHS and Nationally.”
Shirley adds “In particular Healthwatch City of London were key to resolving carer challenges and showing us the way with focused carers sessions in 2020 - 2021. We had situations whereby temperature-controlled medicines couldn’t be delivered, instances where safe guarding requests were raised. Unpaid carers without wishing to be, are heavy users of the Health and Social care system. More carers need to share their experiences with Healthwatch’s across the country to create the conversations for change and to learn which local NHS neighbourhoods, NHS groups can facilitate the changes. We thank, Gail Beer, Paul Coles and Rachel Cleaves’ team for their tremendous support”
Farzana Khanom, Carers Connection Project Manager, said that ‘It is an absolute privilege to receive the Freedom of the City award. My heartfelt gratitude to Lord mayor, lady Mayoress and Cllr Anne Corbett for their nomination. Last but not least, the wonderful city carers who are an absolute joy to work with, their immense support has made this project a huge success. Thank you to all my colleagues at both Carers Centre TH and City Connections".
Photo credit: Jonathan Lee. Left to right: Katy Styles (We Care Campaign), Lady Mayoress, Farzana Khanom, The Lord Mayor, Shirley Islam, Cllr Naresh Sonpar & Dr Karen Lee
