MORE than £16,000 was given out to good causes across Mold following a former town mayor's successful fundraising drive.

During her year in office Cllr Karen Hodgkinson - Mold mayor 2018/19 - raised a total of £16,346 as part of her 'save a life, make a difference' appeal.

The organisations she nominated to benefit from those funds gathered at the Daniel Owen Centre on Thursday to receive the donations.

The primary recipient of the funds was The Counselling Hub, a charity set up by Paula Ringeval to offer counselling for those that cannot access a private service.

After accepting the donation of £10,000 she told the Leader: "I would like to thank Mold Town Council and all of its staff - especially Jane Evans and Cllr Karen Hodgkinson for their outstanding hard work and commitment.

"This is a substantial amount of money which will go an incredibly long way in providing 12 months of support.

We'd like to offer further thanks to our outstanding volunteers and also extend that to the current mayor."

Other recipients included Mix and Mingle Cafe which received £1,500, refugee support charity Synergy which received £1,500, OWL Cymru which received £236.45 and Cornerstone Flintshire which received £236.44.

A donation to the Royal British Legion of £2,873.17 had also already been made from the mayor's fund following a First World War commemorative concert in November 2018.

Bill Brereton, chairman of OWL Cymru, said: "We'd like to say thank you very much to Karen - OWL values every penny."

After handing out the funds, Cllr Hodgkinson told the Leader: "I over exceeded my target - I don't know how we did it but we did, and I am absolutely made up.

"I am thankful to Mold Town Council for all their support - especially Jane (Jane Evans, Mold Town Council's events and community engagement officer) and Sam (Samantha Roberts, the town council's clerk and finance officer). "Without their help and support, it could not have been done."