Councillor Qaisar Abbas has organised a series of special religious prayer services for the local Hindu community. The first prayer service was held on Sunday, 9 July 2022 at the back hall of the Lightship cafe in Grays Beach Park and attended by a large number of local Hindu community members. The prayers were led by renowned religious and spiritual personality, Ms Jyoti Ji.
Mayor of Thurrock, Cllr James Halden, Cllr Jimmy Thandi and Cllr Adam Carter were also invited to attend the first prayer service.
The local Hindu community was very pleased with the service and thanked Cllr Qaisar Abbas for organising the prayers.
Mrs Anita Sharma Singh, who provided refreshment to attendees, said “The Hindu community has no Temple in Thurrock and when we approached Cllr Qaisar Abbas regarding this issue, he immediately organised this service for us. We are over the moon and very grateful for his prompt response.”
Mayor of Thurrock, Cllr James Halden addressed the prayer service and said, “It was an utter joy to see Thurrock faith so well supported. Learning more about our richly diverse community is very important to me, as all, I am everyone’s First Citizen. Myself and Cllr Abbas want to hear from all faith groups so we can promote the work they do.”
Cllr Qaisar Abbas thanked everyone for their attendance and said, “I try my best to help and support various religious and community groups. I secured first Muslim Cemetery in Thurrock and today I am pleased to organise the first Prayer service for local Hindu community in Grays. Thurrock is more diverse now and bringing different communities and faith groups together is my mission.”