Emergency food parcels being packed by Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, and a Newham hub volunteer - Credit: Andrew Baker Heartfelt thank you to volunteers A message from Newham Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz and chief executive Althea Loderick to celebrate national Volunteers Week: A heartfelt thank you to Newham’s volunteer army. As we entered the 2020s, none of us could have imagined what was to hit us in the first two years of the decade in the shape of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tragically, Newham was among the hardest hit areas of the country as the first wave of the virus swept in last year.