A charity that provides support for people battling alcohol and substance addiction has taken the top prize at an awards ceremony.

The Kenward Trust took the top prize from a field of more than 70 entries in the Kent Charity Awards.

The awards are now in their third year and culminated in a ceremony at the Mercure Great Danes hotel in Maidstone last night.

The Kenward Trust was founded in 1968 by Ray and Violet Sinden after Ray offered his own home in the Weald to help the rehabilitation of homeless people, many of them with addictions, living on the street of London.

Today it takes in around 200 residents each year across eight buildings, as well as reaching hundreds of young people through prevention initiatives and helping others with advice and support.

The Volunteer of the Year announcement saw a standing ovation for Lorraine Brown, a lady living with dementia.

VIDEO: Winners announced at Kent Charity Awards

Lorraine is a huge ambassador for people living with the illness and she volunteers her time at The Alzheimer’s Society and Medway Dementia Action Alliance educating others to reduce their fear and the stigma surrounding the disease.

Mo Tutty was crowned Trustee of the year for the work he does as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Ellenor, a charity that supports families facing terminal illness in Kent since 2010.

Mo is extremely popular across the organisation and assists the team in delivering strategic goals, business plans, supporting charity events and developing IT strategies.

Chairman of judges Susan Robinson said on the night: “Once again we have been again bowled over by the amount and also the quality of entries we received. The visits we made gave us a great insight into the valuable work being done.

The awards were made up of 8 categories with the winners as follows.

Animal Charity of the Year

Big Cat Sanctuary

Voluntary Charity of the Year

Kent Scouts

Supporting Services Charity of the Year

Rising Sun Domestic Violence and Abuse Service

Community & Environment Charity of the Year

Porchlight

Care Charity of the Year

Kenward Trust

Children’s Charity of the Year

Dandelion Time

Trustee of the Year

Mo Tutty

Volunteer of the Year

Lorraine Brown

The event was sponsored by Furley Page, The KM Media Group, Kent Reliance, Medway Council, MidKent College, Kent County Council, Kreston Reeves Diggerland, SouthEastern and CC Works.

Entries for the 2018 will open in early Summer and can be made through the Kent Charity Awards website www.kentcharityawards.com . The Awards will be held in a different area of Kent next year and venues are currently being looked at.