Our community health heroes can make make a huge difference to our lives.

Now is your chance to thank those carers across Kent who have gone the extra mile to help those in medical need.

From nurses and therapists to health visitors and school nurses... you can nominate those who have helped either you or your family.

A team or individual can qualify for the Kent Community Health NHS Trust’s KentOnline Community Hero Award.

The KCHT awards celebrate the best patient care around.

Lesley Strong, deputy chief executive and director of operations for adult services, said: "Every day our nurses, therapists and health visitors, to name just a few, are hard at work in the community.

"They are providing quality care in one of our hospitals, or visiting patients at home or in a clinic or community venue.

"They help people rehabilitate and stay healthy and, most importantly, they strive to live up to our value of caring with compassion.

"They may have looked after your grandmother after a nasty fall, helped you to quit smoking or checked on the health of your baby.

“We want to hear from patients about those individuals who they believe deliver the best care and who are exceptional in some way."

Anyone can nominate, simply by emailing commsteam@kentcht.nhs.uk, or writing to The Comms Team, Kent Community Health NHS Trust, The Oast, Unit D, Hermitage Court, Hermitage Lane, Barming, ME16 9NT.

"Every day our nurses, therapists and health visitors, to name just a few, are hard at work in the community" - Lesley Strong

Nominations need to include the name of the individual or team being nominated, your contact details and a brief description of why they deserve the award.

The closing date for entries is

Friday, May 2.

The winner will be announced on Friday, June 27 and will be published by the KM Group and on KCHT’s website

www.kcht.nhs.uk