TWO charities shared a record £60,000 windfall raised by last year's Hounslow mayor Pritam Grewal.

Feltham Bees, a disabled football club, and the Mulberry Centre, a cancer support charity based in Isleworth, were presented with the huge donation last Wednesday (August 14).

The sum of £63,715 and 32 pence, which will be split equally between the two, is the most ever raised by a mayor of the borough during his year in the chains.

Mr Grewal, now cabinet member for communications and communities, visited the Mulberry Centre, in the grounds of West Middlesex Hospital to hand over the money.

Feltham Bees, which is Brentford FC's official disability side and has about 50 players aged five to 50, plans to spend the money on a much-needed new minibus.

Club secretary Ray Coleman said the money was enough to keep the club running for two years and would make a huge difference.

"This means we can spoil our children. We won't have to scrimp and save and tell them we can't go to this tournament because we can't afford to," he added.

The Mulberry Centre provides advice and support, including complementary therapy, to more than 1,000 people who have cancer or are affected by the disease.

Gurpreet Keila, community fundraiser for the charity, which relies almost entirely on donations, said its share of the cash was enough to keep it running for a whole month.

"We'd like to pass on our huge thanks to Pritam, who attended some 600 events during his year as mayor, for his hard work," she added.

Mr Grewal's father-in-law was supported by the Mulberry Centre after developing cancer, and the former mayor is also a keen sportsman, which was one of his reasons for choosing the Feltham Bees.

"I was very lucky to be mayor in the year of the Queen's diamond jubilee and the Olympic and Paralympic Games," he said.

"Even though times are hard, businesses and people of Hounslow have still been very generous and made a big difference to these two excellent causes."