A FORMER Mayor of Dudley has handed over nearly £36,000 raised for charity during her term in office.

Councillor Anne Millward, who was mayor from May 2021 to April last year, met 

The former mayor met representatives from her two chosen charities for 2021/22 – Black Country Mental Health (formerly Dudley Mind) and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – in the mayor’s parlour at Dudley Council House to hand over the money.

A total of £35,721.83 was raised in her year in office, to be split equally between the two charities.

Cllr Millward thanked those who donated and said: "I was extremely proud and honoured to serve this borough as Mayor, and I’m absolutely delighted to be able to hand over such a large amount of money to two very worthy charities.

"What the Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme does to help young people to reach their full potential is nothing short of inspirational.

"I hope this money will be able to help remove some of the financial barriers that prevent young people in more deprived parts of the borough from accessing the scheme.

"Black Country Mental Health does some incredible work to support people affected by poor mental health.

"I wanted to do all I could to help them carry on doing that, particularly coming out of the lockdowns when a lot of people struggled."

Sandra Vaughan, chief executive of Black Country Mental Health, said: "We are hugely grateful for the donation, which will make a massive difference to our work supporting people to manage their mental health."

Caroline Curran, operations manager for the west at the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, said: "We are enormously grateful for Cllr Millward’s generous donation. The monies will improve access to DofE in Dudley.

"The funding will remove barriers for some of the most marginalised young people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate."