OSWESTRY’S new mayor is setting his sights on a personal challenge to have fun and raise money for charity.

Councillor John Price is attempting to lose more than 20lbs as he prepares for a charity skydive later this year.

Cllr Price will take to the skies over north Shropshire in September at Tilstock Airfield – but only if he can lose one-and-a-half stone beforehand.

Helping him along the way will be Emma Thompstone of Slimming World at Oswestry Memorial Hall, providing Cllr Price with three months of free weight-loss help and advice.

The mayor said he is very thankful to Emma for offering the help and to this year’s mayoress, Cllr Joyce Barrow, for organising the skydive and weight-loss programme.

“I really, really am grateful,” he said.

“I’m grateful to Joyce for organising everything and Emma for doing this because I really want to lose the weight.

“My family are quite happy for me to jump out of an aeroplane.

“I gave up smoking which I am so proud of, so now I just want to get rid of the weight.”

Cllr Price is set to skydive in aid of three selected charities – Empathy, Bums on Tums and Three Pots.

He insists he hopes to put more fun into the town through taking on challenges like this one.

He added: “I’ve always wanted to skydive.

“I used to do a lot of climbing and canoeing, and I think as you get older you sometimes end up leaving some of the fun stuff behind.

“It’s an ideal opportunity for me to do something completely different and bring some excitement into things.

“The charities I’m doing it for all offer great services for people. I’m eager to help out wherever I can.

“It’s also a great bit of fun as well – I just want to be a different type of mayor.

“I want to drive as much enthusiasm into the town as I possibly can.

"I want people to be involved in what I'm doing. It's a challenge I want the community to be a part of.

"I want to talk to people and for them to share with me their ideas and worries."

Emma added: “I’m delighted to be supporting John in his weight-loss mission in preparation for his charity parachute jump later this year.

“My members have so far this year lost an amazing total of more than 369 stone.

“With my Chirk group included too, this total is over 500 stone.

“After chatting with John, he said he was really surprised at how welcoming the groups were as he had no idea what to expect. He was also surprised how many men were attending the groups too.

“I am excited to see Johns progress on his Slimming World journey and can’t wait to present him with his target award.”

There will be a sponsorship form in Oswestry Town Hall for anyone wishing to sponsor Cllr Price.