RETIRED chairman of Chester-le-Street District Council, Bill Laverick raised £2,900 during his term of office. The cash will go to Supporting People in Community Experiences, Durham Area Disability Group and Chester-le-Street Riverside Brass Band.

Mr Laverick said: "It was a very difficult task to choose my charities as there are some extremely deserving cases, but I was very pleased and privileged to select the ones that I did. It was always my intention to ensure that purely local charities would benefit from my efforts."