A 17-year-old boy and his entire family have picked up an award for their years of dedicated fundraising and support for the armed forces community.

George Taylor was just nine when he was moved by a news story about Iraq and Afghan war veterans being forced to sell their medals to cover the cost of heating their homes.

A sixth-former at Northfleet School for Girls, George has organised numerous fundraising events in aid of the Royal British Legion (RBL), including a tea dance and a number of 22.2 mile treks from the Battle of Britain pub in Northfleet to the Royal British Legion village in Aylesford.

At the age of 12 he became an ambassador for the Victoria Cross Trust, campaigning to recognise and restore soldiers’ graves.

The youngster, of Coldharbour Road, Northfleet, said: “I first became involved with the Royal British Legion after seeing a story on the news. War veterans were resorting to selling their medals to pay the cost of heating their homes.

“I did not like the look of that so I got in touch with my MP and asked him ‘what can you do about this?’”

At the national Soldiering On Awards, which recognises members of the armed forces community, George and his family received the Trustee’s Special Award for their ongoing charity work.

They were given the accolade during a star-studded ceremony at London’s Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel hosted by television presenter and former newsreader Angela Rippon.

The rest of the family are dad Dave, mum Cheryl, 14-year-old sister Katie, who is a pupil at the same school, and nan Doris Taylor. Dave is the Poppy Appeal organiser for Gravsend while Katie and Cheryl collect donations and count up the totals. Cheryl also organises talks at schools.

Because Cheryl and Dave work full-time, they rely on Doris to take delivery of all the stock and merchandise for the appeal. She also helps man some of the stalls.

George has already met the Queen and appeared on Blue Peter because of his charity efforts.

Jane Ayers, community fundraiser for the RBL in west Kent, said: “We are so delighted their efforts have been recognised and they have received the recognition they deserve.

“They on the other hand felt proud but very humbled to be in such inspirational company. The very next day dad Dave was at a local Remembrance Service in Gravesend supplying wreaths to all the parties involved and then on to a quiz night they held to raise money for the Poppy Appeal.”