A FORMER mayor reflected fondly on his year in office.

Buckley Town councillor Dennis Hutchinson stepped down as town mayor earlier this month, handing on the mayoral chain to his successor Cllr David Ellis.

Cllr Hutchinson, who also serves as county councillor for Buckley Pentrobin ward, told the Leader he was very pleased to have been able to support several charities and good causes.

He said: "We have raised over £9,500 which was a great shock but it has been pleasantly received.

"We were grateful for all the help that was given by the town council staff - without them we would not have been able to achieved what we did.

"I nominated three charities - Macmillan Nurses, Deeside Hospital League of Friends and Blue Sky which is a North Wales Cancer charity stretching across the three main hospitals of Wrexham Maelor, Glan Clwyd and Ysbyty Gwynedd.

"I wanted to support as many organisations as possible who support good causes within the community and that is certainly the case where all those three were concerned."

Cllr Hutchinson also spoke of the shock the community felt following the death of his friend and colleague Ron Hampson in August last year at the age of 79, as well as cllr Hampson's 42-year-old son Stephen who died just after Christmas that same year.

He added: "Ron was a great friend of mine - we were nearly 29 years as councillors - and Stephen was a lovely lad.

"With Ron it was more than being councillor colleagues. We shared a love of football, him as a player and me as a referee."

He explained that after speaking to Cllr Hampson's widow Rita, he decided to host a concert in aid of L'Arche and Mold and Buckley Contact Club, which was a massive success.

Cllr Hutchinson also hosted a concert in November last year at St Matthews Church which was attended by Welsh tenor Rhys Meirion and Rhos Male Voice Choir.

Speaking of his year as mayor of Buckley, he concluded: "It was better than I ever thought it would be, but you put in the work and you get the results - that's how I see it."