The new mayor of Kingston councillor Yogan Yoganathan will dedicate his mayoral term to children and the elderly.

The mayor's three chosen charities the Magic Roundabout, Save the World and Milaap were announced at the mayor's official welcome last Wednesday.

Councillor Yoganathan, our first Sri Lankan mayor, is keen to show the diversity of opportunity in Kingston.

He wants to represent all Kingston's multicultural and diverse communities and make politics accessible to the borough's youth.

He said: "I want to encourage young people to be interested in politics, to make them see we're just people and are open to them and their ideas.

"They are the key to our future and we want to keep them away from antisocial behaviour."

The Magic Roundabout, based in Richmond Road, Kingston, offers free counselling and advice to young people aged between 12 and 20 years old.

Save the World is an environmental youth charity, also based in Richmond Road. In 2002 it won best new charity at a national awards ceremony in London.

The Milaap Centre, primarily for elderly Asian people, has been operating in the borough for 12 years. It is now based in Acre Road, Kingston, having moved from a New Malden scout hut. It provides a hot meal to some of its 250 members five days a week.

Coun Yoganathan pledged to support Fair Trade in Kingston as well as continuing to help tsunami disaster funds.

He is a member of Kingston Racial Equality Council, and founder of a community centre for the Institute of Tamil Culture. He also helped found the Ceylon Cricket League for young people in London, and Surrey Lankanians Cricket and Social Club.

Councillor Yoganathan's mayoral term kick-started on Friday night when he attended the Kingston Vale Operatic and Dramatic Society's charity performance of Return to the Forbidden Planet.

rclifford@london.newsquest.co.uk