Students were welcomed by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Zafar Iqbal MBE J.P and the Lord Lieutenant for the West Midlands, Mr Derrick Anderson CBE. Also attending were representatives from the Pakistan and Indian Consulate in Birmingham and the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster.
Andréa Edwards, Director of Global Relations and Research at the University of Birmingham, who welcomed students to the event on behalf of the Higher Education Sector in the region commented:
“It was terrific to welcome students from all corners of the Commonwealth to Birmingham at the inaugural Commonwealth Connect and Welcome. I met with students from Australia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, India, and Pakistan to name but a few, and it was clear that they all valued the opportunity to meet and connect with fellow students from across the city and were deeply appreciative that the Lord Mayor and Lord Lieutenant took the time to welcome them personally to our City.
Thanks go to Ray Walker, BCA’s events manager, Joshua Pegus and Roshni Ghinday (University of Birmingham), Taher Gadiwala (Aston University), and the other BCA student ambassadors in delivering such an impactful and welcoming event.”
Chairman of the BCA, Keith Stokes-Smith, also expressed his gratitude to Birmingham’s Lord Mayor and the Lord Lieutenant for the West Midlands and to all those who had helped organise the event, to the stallholders, and to those students who had attended.
“It was a day for networking, learning and collaborating providing the perfect opportunity to meet like-minded individuals from various Commonwealth countries, including the UK. On the day they were able to visit stalls providing various personal and practical services/information as well as visiting stalls with information about the commonwealth.
