THE former mayor of Dudley has been hailed by three local charities – after handing over more than £58,000 raised from his year in office.

The final figure of £58,750 raised by Councillor Dave Tyler is a new record - beating the £55,000 raised by Councillor Steve Waltho two years ago.

Cheques were handed over to Dudley Mind, Dudley Alzheimer’s Society and the YMCA, cllr Tyler’s three chosen charities, at Himley Hall on September 19.

Cllr Tyler said: "It was an honour to serve as Mayor of Dudley, alongside my wife Barbara, and to be able to help raise funds for these charities which are so close to my heart.

"These organisations will be able to use this money to support people when they or a family member are going through difficult times and I feel humbled to have been able to play a small part in supporting their important work.

"My wife and I would like to say a massive thank you to all the individuals, groups and organisations that generously contributed throughout the year to help raise such a large amount of money."

Cllr Tyler racked up hundreds of civic engagements, fundraising events, business visits and other activities during his mayoral year.

It included a hugely successful Mayor’s charity ball and a sportsman’s dinner with Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan, as well as a range of other events to help generate the cash for his three charities.

Emma Butler, community fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Society, said: "We’re delighted to receive the money.

"We do a fantastic job for people with dementia, and their carers, and we couldn’t continue the work that we do without the support from people like Dave and Barbara.

"It will be used to cover ongoing costs for providing the services we’ve already got - things like our dementia cafes, dementia support workers, dementia navigators."

Rachel Taylor, open door manager at YMCA, added: "Receiving the money is fantastic and will make a huge difference, because we are going to use that to recruit more hosts in the Dudley borough that will go on to support young people."

While Mike Ball, treasurer and trustee at Dudley Mind, said the cash would "go a long way" to helping the charity provide services to people with mental health problems, adding: "It’s absolutely brilliant."