AS the term of office for the new Mayor of Barry begins, it was time for the outgoing Mayor Councillor Claire Curtis to present cheques to her chosen charities the Jam Fund and Ty Hapus and to thank everyone for their support during her term in office.

Cllr Curtis was joined by the chair of the Jam Fund Paul Adamson and his partner Denise at a celebratory afternoon tea at Ty Hapus. The guests were welcomed by the centre Manager Ellin Jones and many of the users and supporters of Ty Hapus.

Cllr Curtis said: "I have had the most wonderful year in office as Mayor of Barry and have been proud and honoured to represent the town I grew up in.

"I would like to sincerely thank the many people and organisations I have met over the year for their kind welcome and for the hard work they do in the town of Barry and beyond.

"I was very conscious when choosing my charities for the year that I wanted to pick local Barry organisations who rely on fundraising to survive and selected Ty Hapus and the Jam Fund.

"Through the help and support of many generous people, I raised a fantastic £4,100 which has been split equally between the two charities.

"Raising this sort of money can only be done with a lot of help and I would like to thank Barry Male Voice Choir, Barry Choral Society, Barry Ladies Choir, Jodi Bird, Emma Lee Wagner and Tim Reynolds for donating their time and talents to the fundraising events held.

"I would also like to thank family and friends who supported the coffee mornings held through the year. A big thank you must also go to Father Ben Andrews for being my chaplain for the year but also for the support he gave during my term."

Ellin Jones of Ty Hapus said: "The donation from Claire makes a huge difference to us at Ty Hapus and we were delighted to host the event here as a way of saying thank you."

Paul Adamson of Jam Fund added: "All I can say is a big thank you from the Jam Fund for the money raised; the support from Claire over the year has made a huge difference to us as a charity."