Royal recognition for dedication to the community
A dedicated public service volunteer who is the county’s Neighbourhood Watch chairman, has been named as a Coronation Champion for his outstanding contribution to his community.
Peter Rolington, a retired accountant from Tunbridge Wells, was invited to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace as part of the official coronation celebrations on Wednesday, May 3, having spent the last two decades volunteering for Crimestoppers and Neighbourhood Watch.
Mr Rolington is one of only 500 people recognised in this way nationwide after the Royal Voluntary Service called for people across the UK to nominate their volunteer heroes, with almost 5,000 entries received.
With nominations made for individuals aged 14 to 103, Mr Rolington’s commitment to his local community saw colleagues from Kent Police put him forward for consideration.
He has now been recognised by Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort as part of the official coronation celebrations in conjunction with Royal Voluntary Service. He was also invited to attend one of the official coronation celebrations and will receive a specially designed official Coronation Champions pin and a certificate signed by Their Majesties.
For nearly 20 years, Mr Rolington has contributed to support Kent Police’s work to serve and support the local community.
He holds the position of chair
man for both the West Kent and county board of Neighbourhood Watch and is acting as chairman for Crimestoppers. He also created Kent’s eWatch newsletter and is behind Country Eye, an app that was built in collaboration with Kent Police to make it easier for members of the public to report rural crimes. An enthusiast of modern history, Mr Rolington leads battlefield tours for police cadets, sharing his wealth of knowledge about bothworld wars. On receiving the news of his nomination, Mr Rolington said: “It is an honour to be nominated
as a Coronation Champion. I don’t do any of it for recognition but because I feel that giving back to the community is the right thing to do. “Not having worked in policing prior to volunteering, I am thrilled to be supporting officers and potentially making a difference to keeping people safe.”
Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of Royal Voluntary Service, said: “We were completely blown away by the response to the Community Champions Awards and the huge volume of amazing nominees put forward.”