Chatham Town receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service from Kent’s Lord-Lieutenant, The Lady Annabel Colgrain

Hours before the death of the Queen was announced a football club in Kent was receiving an award in her honour.

Chatham Town received the The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service on Thursday morning - the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK - and later that day came the news that the monarch had passed away.

It was a proud day for Chatham, a club who have made sure they have used their status for good in the community. They were presented the award by Kent’s Lord-Lieutenant, The Lady Annabel Colgrain. Their award recognised that they had "brought together the Medway community by harnessing the power of sport.”

Club chairman Kevin Hake said: “On behalf of everyone at the club we are honoured to receive The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. I’m immensely proud of all work that the club does in the community and am blown away getting recognised in the national honours list by the Queen.”

Among those to attend the presentation was the Chatham MP Tracey Crouch.

Mr Hake said: “As a club we have always aimed to embrace our local community by using the power of sport to bring everyone closer together and raise awareness of tackling social issues such as loneliness, obesity, improving physical and mental wellbeing, integration, poverty, and social inclusion.

“Our team of dedicated volunteers work hard weekly reaching out in our community sessions at the stadium, local parks and schools as well as reaching out on the phone or in people’s homes as necessary.

“We are very proud to receive this award in recognition of the work we are doing and I thank everyone at the club for their hard work and commitment.”

Chatham hope to continue their good start to the season on the field tonight (Tuesday) when they travel to