Mayor chooses Bobby Van as his charity for the year

Royal Wootton Bassett Mayor Steve Bucknell has donned the mayoral robes for the third time

Royal Wootton Bassett Mayor Steve Bucknell has chosen the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust as one of his charities for his mayoral year.

Cllr Bucknell, who has donned the mayoral robes for the third time, will be organising events and promoting the Bobby Van throughout his year. He is also supporting the suicide prevention charity Man Down Wiltshire.

“They are both causes that are close to my heart,” he said. “When I was thinking about which causes to choose my wife Allison reminded me about how much we liked the Bobby Van and when I thought about it, it ticked so many boxes – safer communities especially.

“I spent a lot of time working in the elderly care sector, building care homes and retirement villages so there's a link there with me anyway and I have a huge sympathy with and that was one of the reasons I chose it.

“Allison and I a have known Jennie Shaw the Director a long time and we know the hard work she and all the staff put in. The Bobby Van has been going for so long now and is doing some great thing so it just seemed like a natural thing to do.”

He said he was keen to support the Bobby Van because he feels not enough is done to help older people. “An awful lot of charities generally are concentrating on the younger generation and sometimes the older generation does get forgotten.

“The Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust is very good at helping the older generation stay safe from scammers and crooks.”

Jennie said: “We are delighted and very thankful to Steve for choosing us. It’s a great honour to be a mayoral charity and it is wonderful that we will receive a higher profile because of it.”