Kingston Mayor's Appeal Raises £38,314 for Two Charities

Kingston’s last mayoral year raised £38,314.52 for charity. Two charities have each received a cheque for £19,157.26.

The total was announced by former Mayor Noel Hadjimichael at the Retiring Mayor’s Dinner in September. The council published the figure on Tuesday 13 October.

Each year the Mayor’s Charitable Trust raises money for charities the Mayor chooses for their term. Mr Hadjimichael took office in May 2025 and picked his two around a theme of resilience.

Where the money is going

Learn English at Home (LEAH) is a local charity. It teaches English to people whose first language is not English, many of them seeking sanctuary in the borough. Its own website says it works across Kingston, Merton, Hounslow and Richmond and supported 694 learners in 2025-26, with 155 active volunteers.

It aims at people who cannot get to a college class, including:

• parents with a young child at home who has additional needs
• carers who cannot leave the home
• people with physical or mental health needs
• victims of domestic violence or human trafficking

Sharon Landa, chair of LEAH’s trustees, said the money will pay for one-to-one mentoring and small classes in the borough. “People come to us feeling excluded and we work with them for a year or more,” she said. She said it will also fund visits for learners to Kingston Museum, All Saints Church, the riverside and local parks.

The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) is an all-female volunteer corps. It sends rapid response teams to support civil and military authorities in a crisis, according to the charity’s own site. The council says the donation will pay for the training its volunteers need to respond to emergencies.

Commandant Suzy Holmes, the FANY’s incoming commanding officer, said the money “will help support vital training and the Corps operational capacity”.

This year’s charities

The current Mayor, Councillor Thay Thayalan, was appointed on 21 May 2026. It is his second time in the role, after 2018 to 2019. The council’s Mayor’s Charitable Trust page names his two charities for 2026/27:

• RBKares, a volunteer-run charity holding monthly Wellbeing Days with more than 20 partner organisations, handing out toiletries, clothing, bikes and fuel vouchers. It says it supports more than 4,000 people a year
• Kingston Mencap, which runs four weekly social clubs for around 80 adults with learning disabilities and manages the Searchlight Community Centre

What it means for you

• To give to this year’s appeal, contact the Mayor’s Office on 020 8547 5030 or at mayors.office@kingston.gov.uk. The same office takes invitations for the Mayor to attend local events
• LEAH trains volunteer tutors. It asks for one hour a week and offers to train new tutors. Details are on its teach English page
• Kingston Mencap is looking for volunteers to keep the Searchlight centre running, and the council says it especially needs an accountant to help with its annual accounts
• LEAH takes referrals from health and social care staff, schools and other charities, and in some cases from family, friends or the learner themselves

Sources

• Mayor’s Charitable Trust raises thousands for charities supporting community resilience, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, 13 October 2026, for the total, the two cheques, the theme, the charities’ work and both quotes.
• The Mayor’s Charitable Trust and Your Mayor, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, read 14 October 2026, for the 2026/27 charities, the Mayor’s appointment and the Mayor’s Office contacts.
• Learn English at Home, read 14 October 2026, for its area, eligibility, referrals, volunteering and 2025-26 learner and volunteer figures.
• First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, read 14 October 2026, for its role.