A good cause is hoping to be a KM Charity of the Year for the third year in a row after enjoying a “really positive” partnership in 2018.

But the East Kent Hospitals Charity Dementia Appeal does not want to deter other charities from submitting applications, and is keen to encourage them to nominate themselves.

Dementia Appeal fundraising officer Victoria Adley said: “It’s been a really positive experience, and we would thoroughly recommend others to apply.

“We were charity of the year with the Kentish Express in 2017 and with the Kentish Gazette this year. It’s been great working with the papers. We’ve had lots of coverage, and reached a really different audience.”

The deadline for charity of the year nominations for 2019 is October 27. You can submit entries at www.kmcharityteam.co.uk.

And Miss Adley emphasised that submitting applications was a stress-free experience.

She said: "Don't be put off by the prospect of an arduous or time-consuming application process. Submitting an application to be a KM Charity of the Year is extremely straightforward: all you have to do is fill out a two-page online form and then click 'send'.

"It needn't take more than an hour of your time."

One charity will be selected for each newspaper in the KM Group’s portfolio and for its Kent Online website, KMTV and the KMFM radio station.

The chosen charities will receive 12 months of multimedia support, plus access to fundraising opportunities run by the KM Charity Team, including challenges such as the annual dragon boat race, colour run and abseil events.

For Miss Adley, the opportunity to take part in and benefit from these challenges has been one of the main highlights of the year.

She said: “We got a lot of support from the abseil challenge, the colour run and the charity walks, as well as getting a lot of publicity for our events and activities.

“For example, we got a lot of response after the paper included a request for people to send in knitted forget-me-nots for use in a fundraising campaign.

“We’re hoping to apply again this year, although three years in a row might be a bit optimistic.”