A charity that supports more than 1,000 vulnerable adults and children on a daily basis in Kent has been named as KentOnline's charity of the year.

Porchlight is a homelessness charity that has supported accommodation services in Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Ramsgate, Sittingbourne and Tonbridge, a homelessness prevention service and a dedicated rough sleeper team.

The charity also provides a range of community-based services helping people who are isolated, struggling with day-to-day life or dealing with mental health issues.

Alongside this they have a 24-hour helpline and deliver tailored services to young people who aren’t coping at home or in school.

Porchlight focuses on long-term solutions and breaking the cycle of homelessness.

They do this by helping homeless people develop skills to enter employment or education alongside building the skills we all take for granted such as cooking, budgeting and working as part of a team.

Mark Parry, PR manager at the charity, said: “The work at Porchlight doesn’t stop with finding accommodation; in fact sometimes it doesn’t even start there.

"We want people to be able to live without support and really make a valuable contribution to society” - Mark Parry

"Whether someone is struggling to maintain their tenancy, they have been forced to leave an unstable family situation or they have found themselves on the streets, we have a pathway of services to not only get them back on their feet but also to go beyond where they were before and really reach their full potential.

"We want people to be able to live without support and really make a valuable contribution to society.”

“We couldn’t be more grateful to KentOnline for choosing us as their charity of the year.

"I’m confident that the partnership will help us to highlight some important issues, challenge some attitudes, showcase the work that goes on behind the scenes and hopefully encourage people to fundraise for us so that our work can continue.”