MEET THE MAYOR
Harbhajan was able to take up a full,
looking forward to combining these
active role in local politics. She was first
two challenging but rewarding roles.
elected as a councillor for the Greenford
Broadway ward in 2010 and chaired two
MAYOR’S CHARITIES
scrutiny panels during her first term.
The mayor of Ealing traditionally
Harbhajan eventually donned the
nominates charities to raise funds for
borough’s civic robes after being
during his or her term in office.
elected as the new mayor for the
Harbhajan’s background and
2015/16 municipal year in May, taking
interests are reflected in her chosen
over from Councillor Tej Ram Bagha.
charities, which include Age Link UK,
She said: “I was honoured to accept
Dementia Concern and Home Start.
the role, taking over from a fantastic
Social work has featured throughout
mayor, friend and fellow councillor.
her career. She was an approved
“My aspiration during my term is to
mental health professional when she
bring the community closer together.
left Surrey County Council in 2013. She
Through community cohesion I will
is also passionate about the rights of
work to help people understand
children and the elderly, particularly
what we do as a council and how we
those with mental health conditions.
function. I also want residents to know
Additionally, she will be supporting
I’m here to represent everyone in the
the efforts of Save the Asian Elephants
borough as well as the council.
during her mayoral year.
“One of my main objectives as
She said: “I want to support services
mayor is to help raise awareness about
for elderly people, particularly for
violence against women and girls. I want those who don’t have relatives or
to see young men being educated so
anywhere to go during the daytime
they can to begin to understand the role and end up feeling lonely and isolated
of women in their lives as
mothers, sisters, wives,
“I want residents
and to make changes in
the way they treat young
to know I’m here
women and girls.”
Harbhajan has been
to represent
active in the community
everyone in the
for many years,
especially with groups
borough as well
working with Ealing’s
as the council”
twinned towns. She
has previously travelled
to Poland, France, Germany and
Nepal representing the borough while
participating in town twinning events.
She is also a member of the local Sikh
temple in Southall.
The rest of the year promises to be
a very busy one for the mayor, who
has already attended many official
engagements since May, because
she also became a grandmother for
the first time earlier in the year and is
at home. The groups that assist them
really need financial support to run
services. Also with dementia increasing
in all communities I have seen many
elderly patients and their carers trying
to cope with this disease and I want to
support work in psychiatry.
“Homestart is also linked to m