Now the hard work begins

East End Life, June 6

As you will all have seen in last week’s East End Life, we’ve now waved off our bid for city status after a great deal of hard work.

In many ways though, the real hard work starts now. This is your chance to play a part in what could be an historic moment for the borough.

With the decision on which area receives the honour of being named a city by the Queen due in early 2012, we have many months of campaigning ahead of us and we now need as many people to get behind our bid as possible.

I know that here in Tower Hamlets we have more than it takes to be a city; fantastic history, an international financial district, a thriving entertainment scene and one of the most diverse communities in the whole of Europe.

But it’s not just me that thinks this; others feel the same with Canary Wharf Group, Tower of London and the City of London lending their support to our bid.

We now need you as local residents – the heartbeat of the borough – to show the country how proud you are of Tower Hamlets and get behind the bid.

Achieving city status will bring a great deal of benefits to the area. It will attract more businesses and investment, which coupled with the legacy of London 2012, will help make the borough a better place to live and work in.

But perhaps most importantly, people will see us in a different light. They will think positively of our borough, and give it the recognition it deserves.

Too often our assets – wonderful history, vibrant cultural scene and beautiful open spaces – are ignored by those from outside of the borough.

This gives us a chance to change that, and make your local area a better place to live. There will be plenty of opportunity for people to get involved in the bid throughout the year, from community events to photo competitions.

So I urge all those who are proud of their community to get behind the bid.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman