THE Mayor of Winchester has raised a record-breaking sum for charity this year.

As he prepares for the annual mayor-making ceremony in the Guildhall, the retiring mayor, Dominic Hiscock, pictured, prepares to hand over more than £50,000.

Although the final figure has not been declared, with a few donations and gift-aid returns outstanding, the total will certainly be “comfortably above £50,000”.

Cllr Hiscock will present cheques to his two chosen charities, Trinity Winchester and Emmaus Hampshire, later in the year.

He said: “It’s been a real pleasure to work with two charities that have a common aim to help homeless people in the district. I hope that by having a common theme we have been able to raise awareness of the plight of homeless people.

“It was a real privilege to address the pupils at four of our local secondary schools and the response from the young people was particularly moving.”

Cllr Hiscock led a fund-raising team of 12 people who, through events like the Bonfire Ball at the Guildhall, the Big Quiz (the biggest event of its kind ever staged in the city), a garden party at St Cross Hospital, an Antiques Assignation and a string of monthly talks succeeded in raising the impressive total.

“During my mayoral year I had the opportunity to witness work of all sorts being carried out by voluntary groups in and around Winchester,” says Cllr Hiscock.

“I would like to pay particular thanks to everyone that supported the mayor’s charity appeal in such a generous way and helped us to reach such an amazing total.”

The new mayor, Richard Izard, will be installed on Wednesday.