TONY Jarrow isn't sure that the work he's done is worthy of an award.

He is proud of what he and other volunteers have done for their home village of Cropwell Bishop.

But he reckons something like a Reach Out award should go to someone soldiering through a job they don't enjoy because they think it's important.

"It doesn't seem like work really," Tony said of his volunteering.

"It's satisfying and enjoyable. Yes, it does take time, but it's rewarding."

Others disagree on Tony's award worthiness, like John Greenwood, who has nominated Tony for a Reach Out Award.

Sponsored by the Evening Post and BBC Radio Nottingham, the awards seek to recognise the unsung heroes who make our communities better places to live.

Tony has helped plan village activities since 1984, when he organised the village's first 10-mile run.

That event lasted for nearly two decades and raised money for the maintenance of the village's Memorial Hall.

But it's been since his retirement in 2006 that Tony has really become an integral part of village life.

That year it was decided Cropwell Bishop needed a village plan. Tony volunteered to coordinate the teams that would prepare the plan.

That required a bit of work. It gave Tony the chance to get out and talk to people in a village that, for many years, he'd largely just commuted in and out of.

"There were many meetings of sub groups and the main steering committee which Tony coordinated in his gentle unassuming style, to map the way forward to improve the quality of life in Cropwell Bishop," Mr Greenwood explained.

"The plan was published in 2009."

For ex-schoolteacher Tony, it was a change from most of the years he'd spent in the village.

His wife joked that before he started volunteering, he could walk through the village and not know anyone.

Now, she said, it took him an hour to go to the shops because of all the people he had to stop and talk to.

"It was a case of going to work in the morning, coming home in the evening and only getting a bit of village life," Tony said of his pre-retirement days.

His job as coordinator dovetailed nicely with the skills he'd used as a physics teacher, then Head of Science, at Harry Carlton School in East Leake, so Tony was used to speaking to groups and organising presentations.

And he got into the other jobs – creating a booklet, IT work, photography.

"It was enjoyable," Tony said. "It wasn't work."

As he got to know more people around the village, he began to hear more ideas about the sorts of organisations that might prove popular.

Clubs began to form. There was the gardening club, the book club, the allotment club, the choir group, the bridge club, music evenings, scouting... and something particularly close to Tony's heart. Something he organised himself – the walking club.

Once a month he e-mails everybody involved. They meet outside the local pub and go for a five-mile walk mapped out by Tony.

The walks have become social affairs, regularly attracting 20 to 30 people of all ages.

Tony prides himself on interesting walks that show off the lovely hidden areas around the village.

"The success of a walk is if somebody comes back and says, 'I've lived here 30 years and I've never been down this track before'," he said.

Technically speaking, Tony's retired. Practically speaking, he often puts in some long working weeks.

And he enjoys the fact there's no pay cheque except the reward of helping a village he's got to know all over again.

"Money isn't the incentive to do things," he said. "It now becomes more rewarding than being paid for it."

The deadline for Reach Out nominations is almost up – if you know somebody who gives time to others and doesn't ask for anything in return, fill out that nomination form.

erik.petersen@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk