THE mayor of Welwyn Hatfield has revealed the two charities he will be supporting during his year in office.

At a press conference with his new deputy mayor Councillor Carl Storer, following his appointment, Cllr Howard Morgan announced his charities for the year would be The Mixed Group and Help For Heroes.

Cllr Morgan spoke of his long-term support for The Mixed Group, the charity set up by Sean Cox, which organises events for lonely and elderly people throughout the year, including a festive lunch on Christmas Day at Douglas Tilbe House in WGC.

“I’ve supported Sean on many of those events,” he said.

On Help For Heroes, which supports wounded British soldiers returning home from conflict, he said: “I’ve got two cousins in Iraq, and my wife has a niece out there. And both my grandfather and father fought and survived the two world wars.”

He will also hold a one-off event in aid of Home-Start, which trains volunteers to support families suffering from isolation, bereavement, illness and disability.

The Welwyn Hatfield branch has been running since February 2010.

“Cllr Fiona Thompson brought Home-Start to my attention,” Cllr Morgan said. “I’d already committed myself to my two charities, hence I said I would hold an event in support of them.”

Cllr Morgan said he would be taking a different approach to Cllr Langley, who was nicknamed “The Whirlwind” by council leader John Dean, for her energetic mayoral term which raised a record breaking �20,000 for charity.

“It will be different, but it will be good,” he said.

Cllr Storer, who suffered a stroke during his mayoral term in 2007/2008, threw his support behind the new mayor. “The role has changed since ‘The Whirlwind’ last year – as a result we do a lot more for charity,” he said.

“Now it’s my turn to support Howard in everything he does.”

Cllr Morgan’s first fundraising event as mayor will be a Mediterranean evening on July 9 at Cafe Trio in Wigmores South, WGC.