A Crowthorne based charity is set to benefit from a year’s worth of fundraising.

This comes after a new Mayor was elected to represent Wokingham Borough Council.

Incumbent Mayor John Kaiser stepped down from the hot seat after his year in post, making way for Bill Soane, who will be joined by Cllr Malcolm Richards as deputy Mayor.

After being declared as Mayor, Cllr Soane said: “Part of my role is to represent and promote the Wokingham Borough. For me, this will be an easy task, as I truly believe our borough has so much to offer. I’m looking forward to my time as Mayor and as I travel around the borough I hope to meet as many of you as possible.

“For the past year I’ve had the good fortune to serve as Deputy Mayor and during that time I’ve enjoyed meeting many of the people and organisations in Wokingham who make such a positive difference to our lives. This is something I hope will continue.”

Each year the Mayor chooses a charity which will benefit from fundraising during their year in office.

DEBRA has been selected as Cllr Soane’s charity – the Crowthorne-based group is a national charity which supports patients across the borough suffering from Epidermis Bullosa, a painful genetic skin blistering condition which can be fatal.

At Wokingham Borough Council’s annual meeting on Wednesday, May 22 outgoing Mayor John Kaiser told councillors more than £24,000 had been raised for his chosen charity – the Me2 club, which supports disabled young people in the borough.

In his final speech as Mayor, he said: “It has been a privilege to serve the residents of the borough – I have learned more from them than they have from me. The pleasure is all mine. It is a totally uplifting and amazing experience.”

Cllr Soane moved to Woodley in 1983 and is a well-known figure within the community.

As Mayor, he will attend hundreds of civic engagements and host a number of major events including the voluntary sector reception and the primary schools’ carol concert.

He will be joined by Cllr Malcolm Richards at various events.

The new deputy Mayor added: “I look forward to supporting Cllr Bill Soane in his mayoral duties, and to enable a very pleasant and healthy environment for the many residents of Wokingham Borough.”