ROCHDALE’S Sports For All (SFA) held an annual awards evening at the Town Hall, with a distinguished guest list.

Three MPs – Paul Rowen, Jim Dobbin and Phil Woolas – were joined by Chief Superintendent Peter Mason of Rochdale police, Richard Catlow, Editorial Director of the MEN Media Group, the Mayor and Mayoress of Rochdale, Councillor Peter Evans and Helen Evans, other councillors and council officials, faith leaders, and Rochdale Football Club representatives.

It was an evening when they came together to celebrate the sporting success of young people from Rochdale and Oldham.

The celebrations began with Springhill Badminton Club presenting awards to those who won last year’s Rochdale badminton tournament.

The winners went on to represent Rochdale in the Greater Manchester Youth Games in which Team Rochdale finished second.

Sports For All events are focused on strengthening community links, and Councillor Ibrar Khan spoke on this theme with respect to the Friendship Cricket Trophy, won last year by Wardleworth.

Another example of Sports For All being involved in building community links was the Alliance Shield football match.

The Reverend James Reed introduced the annual match, now named in memory of Gareth O’Neill. It brings together young footballers from the christian and muslim communities who play a team from RMBC.

Lee Murphy and Andrew Entwistle, on behalf of the winning council team, collected the shield from Gareth’s father James.

Surinder Biant presented the SFA indoor cricket tournament award which was won by Bilal Legends. He also presented Sports for All with a cricket bat signed by the Pakistan team.

Councillor Alan Taylor presented the volunteer of the year award to Kashif Malik, a 14-year-old pupil at Springhill High School who will be travelling to Anfield for a trial with Liverpool FC. Kashif was congratulated on his hard work towards setting up a youth club and getting young people off the streets.

The main award was for Services to the Community.

This was presented to Mohammad Sharif by Hafiz Ikram, Imam of Rochdale’s Central Mosque, and the Mayor.

When he got over the shock of the announcement Mohammad Sharif reminded the audience that although awards such as these are given to people who usually retire, he will now be working even harder for the borough.

The final award of the evening was the Sports For All five-a side Soccer Aid tournament trophy for 2007.

This competition raised more than £600 for charitable causes.

Phil Woolas presented the award to the winners Sona FC, a team from Oldham.

All the winners from various sections of the community collected certificates of achievement.

The Mayor commented: "It was delightful to see so many people support an event which utterly negates those people who say it doesn’t and can’t happen. It was a wonderful experience for me, and I highly commend all those who played a part and contributed to such a profound success."

The full list of winners was:

SFA Badminton

Under 13s: Kieron Walsh. Under 15s: Liam Howard. Doubles Under 18: Haider Ali and Mohammed Bilal. Open Age: Lewis Gregory and Danny Thompson

Alliance Trophy 2007 Champions: Rochdale Police

Gareth O’Neill Unity Shield 2007: Rochdale Council

The Haji Farooq and Tahir Friendship Trophy: Wardleworth

SFA 2007 five-a-side Soccer Aid Tournament: Sona FC (Oldham). Fair play winners: Real Deeplish

Volunteer of the Year: Kashif Malik

Services to the Community: Mohammad Sharif