Ex-England rugby international Mickey Skinner attended the launch of a specially-brewed ale for a charity which maintains Victoria Cross recipients’ graves.

The former Harlequins’ flanker was invited to the Beach pub on Saturday by landlord Duane Ashworth after they played golf together in aid of The Wooden Spoon Society which runs projects for disadvantaged children.

Mr Ashworth, whose son L/Cpl James Ashworth was killed in Afghanistan and posthumously awarded Britain’s highest military honour in 2013, is a trustee of the Victoria Cross Trust which looks after the burial places of soldiers awarded the medal.

Mr Skinner, who lives in Sevenoaks, said: “When he told me he was doing that and it’s not being done by the government, it’s not being done by other people, it’s being done by a father who’s lost his son, that’s real. That’s a real charity.”

The Beach, in Seaside Avenue, Minster, is the only pub to stock the ale, called the Victoria Cross, although bottles and gift sets can be purchased from the brewer, Yorkshire Drinks Company, or from the trust with 30% of the profits going towards the charity.