Cllr Dianne King was re-elected as Mayor of Wokingham Borough last Thursday (May 19).

Cllr King said: "I feel honoured to have been appointed Mayor for a second year and I will continue to support the people of this wonderful Borough in whatever way I can."

Traditionally, the Borough Mayor chooses a charity to benefit from fundraising during their year in office and last year Cllr King raised over £10, 500 for Berkshire Give a Child a chance, a charity administered by the Berkshire Community Foundation. This year, Cllr King would like residents and charities to help her choose and nominations can be made via the Mayor’s Office until Friday June 3.

The Mayor is officially the ‘first citizen’ of the borough and has a civic role, representing the council and the people of the borough, as well presiding over borough council meetings. Unless Her Majesty the Queen or her representative is in attendance, the mayor takes precedence over any other dignitaries attending events.

Cllr King was first elected to Wokingham District Council in 1996 as member for Evendons Ward. Between 2002 and 2009, Cllr King was a member of the decision-making executive, originally as executive member for strategic alliances, which later changed to community development and expanded to include libraries, lifelong learning, culture, art and sport. The role also included working with the council’s partners, including the police, voluntary sector, health authorities, businesses, town and parish councils and many others to set up the Wokingham Local Strategic Partnership. Cllr King also chaired this group between 2002 and 2009.

Cllr King has been a Wokingham Town councillor for many years and also held the position of Town Mayor in 2006/7. Cllr King’s work for the town council has also featured highly in her work at the borough council where she chaired the Wokingham Town Centre Forum and Town Centre Steering Group.

Another well-known councillor Bob Wyatt has been re-appointed as the new Deputy-Mayor to support Cllr King during her time in office. Cllr Wyatt’s council service goes back to 1969 when he joined the former Wokingham Borough Council and he is also a long serving member of Wokingham Town Council and a former town mayor and district council chairman.

After joining the district council in the early 1990s, Cllr Wyatt was closely involved in the formation of the unitary authority. Working hard for homeless young people, Cllr Wyatt was involved in the setting up of a hostel in Seaford Court, Wokingham and is involved with Caritas, the charity for young homeless. And taking an active interest in improving services for carers in the Wokingham Borough, Bob was also appointed as older people’s champion.

Cllr Wyatt is a trustee of Wokingham United Charities; on the management committee of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and ARC and is chair of governors at Wescott Infant School. In his spare time, he has written and published 13 books on motoring and military history and edits a military history society magazine as well as collecting books.

Cllr Wyatt said: "I am looking forward to supporting Dianne during her year of office and will work hard to ensure the borough’s relationships go from strength to strength."

If you would like to propose a local charity as the Borough Mayor’s charity for 2011/12 or to invite the Borough Mayor to attend an event, contact the Mayor’s office at Mayor@wokingham.gov.uk or 0118 974 6004.