A WOMAN from Dewsbury will be honoured today (Friday) for a life of volunteering. Habiban Zaman, 47, will be presented with a British Community Honours Award at the House of Lords in recognition of her contribution to social cohesion and integration in North Kirklees over many years. The council engagement officer was awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2014. The latest accolade is for efforts in her spare time on issues such as domestic violence, forced marriages and prostitution. She has also worked with recent Hungarian and Polish migrants on problems such as littering in Ravensthorpe. The mother-of-two, who grew up in Batley Carr, is the first person in Kirklees to receive the award. She said: “I perhaps feel even more excited about this award because it’s for the volunteering. “Having grown up in a multicultural community with people of many different backgrounds, that is something I’m really proud of. “There’s a satisfaction in seeing a smile on someone’s face and knowing you’ve made a difference to their life.” She began volunteering at a mother and toddler group in Savile Town aged just 19. Around the same time she joined the Awaaz newspaper as a community writer and started a women’s page. While there, the 1989 Dewsbury riot, which Habiban said was a “huge eye-opener”, sparked her interest in social cohesion. Habiban then worked on many projects, including starting inter-faith groups with churches. One at St Luke’s Church in Cleckheaton led to lasting friendships among women of various faiths over the last 15 years. She also volunteers at the Trinity Centre in Batley Carr and is a governor at St John Fisher Academy and St John’s Infant School. Volunteering can take a personal toll and Habiban said: “It’s been quite hard at times. “When I had my sons I had to take a step back – but that passion never went away and it still drives me.”
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