High Sheriff of Kent Awards 2021

The High Sheriff of Kent, Remony Millwater, has made a number of awards to charities and organisations through the High Sheriff Awards. 

The annual High Sheriff Awards celebrate the charitable work of organisations who contribute their time and care to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable members of the community and is the final role for the High Sheriff at the end of their term of office. 

With law and order very much the remit of a High Sheriff, Remony was honoured to be able to recognise organisations that work to prevent crime, those helping ex-offenders gain skills, confidence and employment, those working with victims or witnesses of crime or organisations supporting victims of domestic abuse.  The High Sheriff was also pleased to highlight the response of one charity during the Coronavirus pandemic to reach some of the most vulnerable people within the Medway community. 

The winners of this year’s High Sheriff Awards are: VRU Ashford & Folkestone District, Refocus Project Ltd, Lily's Social Kitchen CIC, Dogs Trust and Rubicon Cares.

In addition to The High Sheriff’s Awards, a High Sheriff’s Consort Award was presented to Challenger Troop CIC and a special Coronavirus award went to The Gillingham Street Angels.

Remony Millwater, The High Sheriff of Kent, 2020/21 said, “In this very unusual year, I have been delighted to visit many charities and organisations. Sadly some have been online but those that I have visited in person have made me so welcome. I am grateful to you all for all that you have managed to do in these extremely difficult times and for finding ways to stay in contact with those in need. It was very difficult to restrict my awards to just a few recipients and I decided to choose those that best fit the remit for the High Sheriff, namely those associated with law and order."

As well as an awards certificate, each of the winning organisations receives a donation of £500.

Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation, said “This year’s High Sheriff awards have been given to some amazing organisations who are doing fantastic work in the county. It has been our pleasure to support The High Sheriff throughout what has been an extremely challenging term of office and we would like to wish Remony all the best for her future and welcome the new High Sheriff John Weir as he takes on this important role.”

This year's awards ceremony did not go ahead as usual due to the Coronavirus pandemic, however Remony was able to visit all of the award winners to present them with their award.  

Kent Community Foundation has managed the High Sheriff's Award Fund since 2015 and has invaluable experience in introducing High Sheriffs to voluntary groups in Kent and Medway.

More on this year's winners:

VRU Ashford & Folkestone District - created in September 2019 with money awarded to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent from the Home Office, the unit uses a public health approach to violence, addressing the causes of violence and aiming to support those involved and impacted by violence.

Refocus Project Ltd - provide early intervention and prevention and tackle these issues at the root. We help those most at risk through conflict resolution and to protect those from being exploited or caught up in bullying, Knife crime, peer pressure, county lines, crime, grooming, money laundering , gangs – either as victim or perpetrator.

Lily’s Social Kitchen - a bistro in Canterbury, responding to a need to get people who struggle to gain employment, to develop new skills. Those working at Lily's, either as volunteers or paid staff,  have faced, and continue to face, great challenges of various natures in gaining skills and employment, but where others may see unskilled or unemployable, Zoe her team are determined to give their employees the best chance to make the most of themselves without judgement. 

Dogs Trust - run the Freedom Project, a dog fostering service for people fleeing domestic abuse and going into refuge. The service has been running for 16 years and has helped over 1,500 people to flee domestic abuse.

Rubicon Cares - provide trauma counselling throughout Kent & Medway for people affected by ANY crime.

The High Sheriff, Consort Award went to Challenger Troop CIC - run unique leadership, team building and engagement programmes build character, grit and resilience in young people.

The High Sheriff, Covid Award went to The Gillingham Street Angels - help homeless, needy, and vulnerable people of all ages in the Medway towns.