Fiona Bruce, MP for Congleton – well-known for her Christian principles – together with husband and wife Dr Husna Ahmad OBE and Saif Ahmad received the 2015 Family Values Awards from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) at a special event held at the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament (December 16).
- Dr Husna Ahmad OBE and Saif Ahmad receive 2015 Family Values Award
- Fiona Bruce MP receives 2015 Family Values Award.
- Dr Husna Ahmad OBE
- Saif Ahmad
- Fiona Bruce MP
- Elder Patrick Kearon, Europe Area President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- UK Church leader Elder Clifford T Herbertson
- Houses of Parliament, London – venue for the 2015 UK Family Values Awards
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The Mormon faith in the UK presents Family Values Awards annually to individuals in the public eye whose work and influence have a significant impact on family life within British society.
UK Church leader Elder Clifford T Herbertson said Fiona Bruce MP, “Has championed family values in the House of Commons chamber, through Parliamentary committees and via her significant work outside Westminster. Amongst fellow Parliamentarians she is recognised as a tireless champion of the family and, as a leading Christian MP, she lives her faith with commitment.”
On receiving the award, Fiona Bruce revealed that she was at the celebratory luncheon with her husband Richard just one day after they had celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. “Can I also say ‘thank you’ to Richard? He’s been a wonderful husband!”, she said.
Elder Herbertson expressed that Dr Husna Ahmad OBE and Saif Ahmad “reflect family values in their international and national community leadership, as parents of six children and – as prominent Muslims – they follow the great moral teachings of their faith.”
Dr Ahmad is CEO of Global One 2015, an international development organisation, and is Secretary General – Europe of the World Muslim Leadership Forum. Saif Ahmad works as CEO of the Al-Khair Foundation, a UK-based international NGO.
Saif Ahmad remarked that “what we want to share with our children is that everything we have achieved in life has been given as a gift from God.”
Dr Husna Ahmad joked, “When I told my children that we were going to receive the Family Values Award, they said, ‘You, Mum?!’”
Elder Patrick Kearon, Europe Area President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shared his feelings about the 2015 Family Values Awards: “Why this event from the Church’s point of view? Our faith in Jesus Christ comes first and, following on from that, comes family. I joined the Church as a 26-year-old and found out that the Church teaches that the family can be eternal.”
He added, “We have to stand up for the family and other core values.”
Family Values Awards were first presented by the Church in the UK in 2001. Previous award recipients have comprised UK cabinet ministers, people of influence in the third sector and faith leaders. They include Rev Canon Ann Easter, Chaplain to HM The Queen; David Burrowes MP; The Marriage Foundation founder Sir Paul Coleridge; government family poverty adviser Rt Hon Frank Field MP; Edmund Adamus, Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster’s Director for Marriage and Family Life; Baroness Scotland, then Attorney General for England and Wales; and Rt Hon Paul Boateng MP (now Lord Boateng), formerly Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
David Rutley, MP (from Macclesfield) hosted this year’s luncheon at the House of Commons. The 2015 awards event was attended by 12 Parliamentarians and Peers from across the political spectrum.