As the new mayor of Bankstown, I am pleased to continue with the tradition of the Mayoral Charity Dinner, with this year's dinner to be held on Friday 12 August in the Grand Ballroom at Bankstown Sports Club.

Each year, one local non-for-profit organisation is chosen as the recipient of the proceeds raised from the event, and former Mayor Clr Tania Mihailuk MP recently named the Bankstown City Aged Care as the beneficiary of the 2011 Mayoral Charity Dinner.

Bankstown City Aged Care is a not-for-profit organisation that has been serving the frail and aged residents of Bankstown since 1972. The centre does a tremendous job in providing quality health care and offer residential aged care and respite, a dementia day care centre and home based care services.

The proceeds raised from the dinner will go towards supporting our local aged care service to purchase a bus to transport patients to and from the Betty Sussman Centre as well as enhancing existing dementia related services.

The Mayoral Charity Dinner is an opportunity for Council and the broader community to dig deep and show our appreciation to the Centre's management, staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedications to caring for our frail and aged residents.

Tickets to the Mayoral Charity Dinner can be bought by contacting Council on 9707 9523. The ticket price of $85 per person will include a three course dinner and entertainment. There will also be raffles and auctions on the night to maximise the funds raised for Bankstown City Aged Care.

I invite residents to get behind raising funds for this worthy cause.