THE outgoing Mayor of Dudley has raised nearly £37,000 for his chosen charities during his year in office.

Councillor Mohammed Hanif, who represents Lye and Stourbridge North, has attended 352 mayoral engagements since taking on the role of the borough’s first citizen in May 2016.

His final fundraising event – a walking football tournament at Powerleague in Halesowen – is set to take place on Friday but the final amount raised is already nearly £37,000 which will be split between the Friends of Alfie Johnson, Diabetes UK Dudley branch and Dudley CIL.

The mayor, who has been accompanied on many of his official engagements by his wife - the mayoress Zabeda Khanam, paid tribute to volunteers Sue Randall and Sheena Smith, who have organised several of the fundraisers to help pull in the pounds over the past 12 months which have included sponsored walks, curry nights and social gatherings.

The fundraising events throughout the year have also included the Mayor’s Civic Awards, incorporating the Mayor’s ball and the civic awards, and a Bollywood themed event at Dudley Town Hall.

Councillor Mohammed Hanif said of his mayoral year: “It has been an absolute privilege and an honour to be the first citizen of Dudley over this past year.

“We have met so many wonderful people and attended so many fantastic events, and we would like to thank everyone for being so friendly and welcoming towards us.

“We are very proud to have worked and raised so much money on behalf of the three charities over the course of the year. I would like to personally thank Sue and Sheena, who have worked tirelessly as volunteer co-ordinators to put on so many great events. We really could not have done it without them.”

Councillor Hanif will officially sign off at the next full council meeting on Thursday May 18.

The new Mayor of Dudley will then be sworn into office later in the meeting at Dudley Council House.