The Mayor of Dudley has facilitated the handover of more than £55,000 to his predecessor’s charities this week.

The current Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Mohammed Hanif, invited Councillor Steve Waltho back to the mayoral office, along with his chosen five charities, to receive the record-breaking fundraising effort.

Representatives from The Hope Centre, The What? Centre, More Mascots Please, Leukaemia Unit Appeal Fund, Russells Hall and The West Midlands Lupus Group all received cheques of £10,400 with an additional £3,500 for the Lupus Group for granting places at the London Marathon. Councillor Steve Waltho, said:

“My wife, Jayne, and I take great satisfaction that five wonderful charities are to substantially benefit from our mayoral year.  These organisations will in turn benefit many disadvantaged or poorly people in our great borough.

“I would like to give huge thanks to our voluntary fundraiser, Sue Randle. Thank you to Sophie Byatt from Castle & Crystal Credit Union for managing our online donation account. I would also like to thank all of the mayoral support staff.

“Finally, a massive thanks to all the individuals, groups and organisations that generously contributed throughout the year to reach such a fantastic record total.”

Steve crammed in hundreds of civic engagements, fundraising events and other activities during his Mayoral year. It included a record-breaking Mayor’s charity ball, a London Marathon, a climb up Ben Nevis and a range of other events to help generate the cash for his five charities. Councillor Mohammed Hanif, Mayor of Dudley, said:

“Being Mayor brings along so many opportunities to meet people from organisations across our borough and to help where we can. Congratulations to Steve and Jayne on their successful year and I hope that people will be as generous this year to help me support my three charities.”