An organisation representing charities across the county has expressed its delight at being involved with the inaugural Kent Volunteering Awards.

Stronger Kent Communities (SKC), which provides support and advocacy services for third-sector organisations across the county, is acting as one of the judging organisations for the awards.

It is joined on the judging panel by East Kent College, the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Pfizer, the Kent Community Foundation and the KM Group.

SKC chairman Alex Krutnik said: “We are extremely gratified to be on the judging panel for the Kent Volunteering Awards.”

Organised by the KM Charity Team, the awards aim to celebrate and reward the work of the thousands of people who work unpaid every day to provide invaluable community services across Kent, Medway, Bexley and Bromley.

They will champion employer-assisted volunteering schemes; community volunteering through clubs, youth groups and charities; volunteer carers; and health-sector and educational volunteering.

Mr Krutnik said recognition for volunteers was “vital”, adding that without volunteers the majority of third-sector organisations “would not exist or provide the services so needed for society”.

He said: “A world without volunteers would be a very dull world indeed.”

His comments were echoed by SKC events organiser Emma Cooney, who said: “Volunteers keep our society going.

“They’re the fabric of our society. They do a huge amount of wonderful work all across Kent and Medway, so it’s really important that individual teams and individuals are recognised.

“And it’s great to have an event like the Kent Volunteering Awards, where everyone can come together and be celebrated, because it’s so important to say thank you to all these people doing such good work.”

Anybody can submit nominations for either individuals or teams of volunteers, and the deadline for doing so is October 27.

Find out more and submit entries at Kentvolunteeringawards.co.uk.

And watch a video in which Alex Krutnik and Emma Cooney talk about the awards here: