Children’s charity Kids In Need and Distress (Kind) has announced that its founder and chief executive Stephen Yip has been granted the freedom of the City of Liverpool.

Yip, 57 founded KIND in 1975. The honour, awarded on 12 January, acknowledges his 37 years of charity work helping disadvantaged children and families in the Northwest of England. He was also recognised by the city last year having been appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside.

Yip becomes the 63rd person to receive the award joining an illustrious list of prior recipients including Nelson Mandela, the Beatles and Bob Paisley. Yip is also one of the few recipients from an ethnic minority background.

KIND works with underprivileged children across Merseyside aiming to educate, improve learning skills and assist with personal development. It is run without any government support and is entirely funded by donations.

While welcoming the award Mr Yip also used the opportunity to point out the plight of his charity in times of economic hardship.

“It is a great honour to be recognised by the people and the city I live in, not just for me but for the charity. We have struggled with funding but we are still here and we are still developing. We have seen a number of recessions, but we aim to be here for the long haul.”

The problems faced by KIND reflect the problems of many other charities up and down the country. Liverpool's charity sector, however, has been in the spotlight as one of the original four Big Society vanguard areas. The city council withdrew from the programme after government funding cuts made it "impossible to continue".