The outgoing Mayor of Dudley said it had been an “absolute privilege” to wear the chains of office – as it was revealed nearly £37,000 has been raised over the year for his three chosen charities.

Councillor Mohammed Hanif has attended 352 mayoral engagements since taking on the role in May last year, many alongside the mayoress, his wife Zabeda Khanam.

His final fundraising event will take place on Friday – a walking football tournament at Powerleague in Halesowen – but the final amount is already nearly £37,000. It will be split between the Friends of Alfie Johnson, Diabetes UK Dudley branch and Dudley CIL.

The mayor paid tribute to volunteers Sue Randall and Sheena Smith, who have organised several of the fundraisers to bring in the cash over the past 12 months. They include sponsored walks, curry nights and social gatherings.

Larger events over the year included the Mayor’s Civic Awards, which incorporated the Mayor’s ball and the civic awards, and a Bollywood themed event at Dudley Town Hall. Councillor Mohammed Hanif said:

“It has been an absolute privilege and an honour to be the first citizen of Dudley over this past year. We have met so many wonderful people and attended so many fantastic events, and we would like to thank everyone for being so friendly and welcoming towards us.

“We are very proud to have worked and raised so much money on behalf of the three charities over the course of the year. I would like to personally thank Sue and Sheena, who have worked tirelessly as volunteer co-ordinators to put on so many great events. We really could not have done it without them.”

Councillor Hanif will officially sign off at Thursday’s full council meeting, where he will make a short speech before playing a video of highlights from his term of office. The new Mayor of Dudley will then be sworn into office at later on in the meeting at the Council House.