Pictured: Paul Newman, Gayle Newman, Mayor Bill Randall, Caroline

I was delighted to see Gayle and Paul Newman of the Ladies Mile pub (Patcham) at the Mayor’s Parlour this morning for a formal tea.

The group Patcham Companions asked me to nominate the couple for an invitation to the Mayor’s Parlour in order to recognise their amazing fundraising and charitable work.

Through family, friends and pub customers they’ve raised over £25,000 for local schools and charities.

This included £1,200 for the Carden Tots children’s centre when it faced closure in 2011: largely due to Gayle and Paul’s fundraising efforts the centre remains open today and is used by hundreds of families every week.

The local community and customers of the Ladies Mile pub haven’t just made contributions – they’ve also inspired the causes.

For example, £1,000 was raised for an Alzheimer’s charity after the father of a local resident died from the illness.

Another £1,000 went towards the Trevor Mann unit at the Royal Alexandra hospital after a local family lost their young baby.

Gayle and Paul are keen to raise as much as possible but also recognise the bigger picture, with Gayle saying: "Without the help of our customers, family and friends, we would not have been able to achieve this – they certainly know how to pull together to help others.”

The picture above shows Gayle and Paul receiving a small gift to thank them for what is truly inspiring work.