PERSHORE's mayor Bob Gillmor has awarded £4,000 to his chosen charities.

Cllr Gillmor chose Kids Run Free and St Richard's Hospice as his charities for 2016/17.

The chief executive of Kids Run Free, Martine Verweij, accepted the presentation cheque.

She said: "We were so happy when we found out we were one of the chosen charities, as this not only recognises the work Kids Run Free does locally, but it also gives our reliable and enthusiastic local group of volunteers a deserved thank you and acknowledgement for their hard work and contribution to the local community.

"It was also a huge pleasure to have the presence of the mayor at our August event this year.”

The money being awarded was raised during various fundraising events organised by the mayor’s office, such as the mayor’s charity service Worcester Male Choir collection, the mayor’s charity quiz night and the Ambient-Medieval music night at Pershore Abbey, amongst other initiatives.

Kids Run Free’s team of local volunteers were invited to represent the charity at all of these events, led by race director Jane Gordijn.

Kids Run Free is a charity that has been organising free running events for children under 16 years old of all abilities since May 2015 in Pershore.

The money raised for Kids Run Free will go directly to improving and updating the Pershore monthly Kids Run Free running events that take place at Abbey Park every second Saturday of the month at 9am.