THE new Lord Mayor of York has spoken about his hopes to raise £60,000 for two York charities during his year in office.

Coun Keith Hyman and the Lady Mayoress, Karen Hyman, have chosen to support Special Olympics City of York, a group of sports clubs which support athletes with learning disabilities, and the York branch of SSAFA Forces Help, which helps current and former servicemen and their families during times of need.

They will hold a variety of events and collections throughout the year in order to raise funds.

Coun Hyman said: “The Lord Mayors of York have a tradition of choosing local charities which perhaps do not have as high a profile as some others and we therefore hope our year of office will help them, not only with additional finance but also, so that more people know about their invaluable work.

“I was first involved with the York Special Olympics team as sheriff five years ago, when I went to see the Special Olympics in Leicester. I was extremely moved to see the athletes, who have learning disabilities, competing with such effort and enthusiasm and was very impressed with the charity’s objectives, so it was an obvious choice.”

Paul Ramskill, chairman of Special Olympics City of York, which gives 100 athletes specialist training and the opportunity to compete regionally, nationally and internationally, said: “The funds from the Lord Mayor’s charities will allow us to provide more coaching for more potential athletes and we will be able to plan with confidence for the Special Olympics National Games which take place in Bath in 2013.”

John Goodsir, treasurer of the York SSAFA branch, said: “There are going to be significant changes and redundancies in the Armed Forces in the next two years and that inevitably means our services will be needed even more. The additional funds from the Lord Mayor’s charities will mean we can increase the recruitment and training of our volunteers for this critical work.”

Among fundraising events already planned for the coming year, Coun and Mrs Hyman will be running in the Jane Tomlinson Run on August 5.