Guests celebrated in Rochester Cathedral last night as the winners of the Kent Charity Awards were announced.

Now in its sixth year, the annual celebration recognises the hard work put in by volunteers and trustees across the county.

Presented by ITV Meridian's Sangeeta Bhabra, 32 nominees were all awarded certificates for their vital efforts but waited nervously to see who won each category.

The overall winner of the night - being awarded Kent Charity of the Year 2021 - was Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (AAKSS), which was met with claps and cheers at the covid-friendly event.

Taking home a trophy and £1,000, judges explained that although the competition was tough this year, the work carried out by AAKSS throughout the pandemic was unrivalled.

It is an independent charity that provides 24/7 emergency medical care.

Last year alone, they were called out to help over 2,500 people in life-threatening conditions.

When accepting the award the winners explained that many people don't realise AAKSS is a charity and assume it comes under the NHS, this is not the case.

Despite many believing its services might have not been as busy as usual last year - as everyone was staying home - the charity continued its life-saving work, even transferring Covid-19 patients between hospitals. AAKSS also won Large Charity of the Year.

Another highly anticipated category was the Volunteer of the Year Award, which went to Elaine Barnett from the Domestic Abuse Volunteer Support Services.

Elaine and the charity support any victims of domestic abuse, aged 16 years and above, in West Kent.

She said: "I was absolutely thrilled to be awarded the trophy for Volunteer of the Year. My charity says it is truly delighted to see my work recognised. A big thank you to all the sponsors of the awards."

Jo Hage, co-founder of the Kent Charity Awards, said: "It was an amazing evening.

"It's been so lovely to have all of the great and good of the charity sector here in one place after so long being apart.

"This is the sixth year of the Kent Charity Awards and we've had some new charities enter as well as some old faces.

"We're just always thrilled to be able to recognise and reward those who are doing great things for the people of Kent."

Many other amazing charities from a variety of sectors were also nominated and named as winners at the awards.

• The winners of Care Charity of the Year were Crossroads Care Kent, which supports anyone living with challenges.

• Children’s Charity of the Year was awarded to We Are Beams, which supports disabled children and their families across Kent and Medway.

• Taking the Disability and Mental Health Charity of the Year award was West Kent Mind, which has a mission to enrich lives through better mental health.

• The Community Charity/Project of the Year award went to Sateda, a specialist domestic abuse charity that is campaigning for change around gender-based violence.

• For the Best Use of Social Media and Technology award, Pilgrims Hospices took prize, the charity has been providing end-of-life care, free of charge for nearly 40 years.

• The Best Use of Volunteers award went to One Big Family - which helps the homeless and is dedicated to supporting the homeless and vulnerably housed people in Medway.

• The winner of the Animal, Environment and Wildlife category was Kent Wildlife Trust, which manages and protects over 9,000 acres of land across Kent.

• Start-Up Charity of the Year was won by Curly’s Legacy, Curly's farm is on the Isle of Sheppey which supports children, young people and vulnerable adults through learning care and work with animals.

• The Special Recognition Award went to The Hygiene Bank, a charity which tackles hygiene poverty through communities and change.

• The Trustee of the Year award went to Geoff Willcox from the Maidstone Mediation and Reparation Scheme.

Kyle Ratcliffe, the head of Curly's Legacy and Curly's dad, spoke of its win, he said: "We've never been to the Kent Charity Awards, this was our first time.

"We were really excited to be nominated and as a small little farm on the Isle of Sheppey to actually be seen and recognised for the work that we do is lovely.

"Although we're based in Sheppey we have children, young people and schools from the whole of Kent from Dover to Dartford.

"We've had an amazing time at the Kent Charity Awards.

"We've all been locked in for the last 18 months, we've been nowhere, we've seen nothing, we work on a farm, we're usually in wellies, jeans and covered in muck so to actually get spruced up and look smart with a glass of prosecco is lovely!"

The Young Lives Foundation was nominated for the Best Use of Volunteers awards.

Neil Vickery, from the charity, said: "It was a great night, we're a children's charity that has been running for 15 years that provide services all over Kent, but we can't do anything without our volunteers.

"So, this was recognition of all the hard work they always put in but also the most challenging year of our existence with lockdown and covid."

A raffle held on the night raised more than £200 which was presented to the winner of last year's Kent Charity of the Year award, Oasis Domestic Abuse.

If you would like to enter next years awards visit the click here, for more details.

The KM Group is committed to helping the community through the KM Charity team.

For more information and to find out what other good causes you can get involved in click here.

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