Eric Scott has beaten an incredible field of the region’s most giving people to be crowned Volunteer of The Year at a ceremony on Thursday.
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While Mr Scott was recognised for his “significant contribution” over 24 years to the ongoing success of the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame, he is also one of the four founders of the iconic Tamworth Country Music Festival.
“It is overwhelming really, it was a great surprise and so nice to be recognised,” he said.
“I find it very hard to explain in words why we do what we do at the ACMHF, but over the years we have been extremely lucky to get a very keen group of dedicated volunteers who have stayed for a long time – it really is about the team.”
“We are all 120 per cent volunteers, and it is magnificent that they all stay and willingly do what they do – it really is.”
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Mr Scott was nominated in the Senior category, alongside Ann Fittler, Sue Gardner and fellow ACMHF committee member Judy Loffel, although it was Tamworth Regional Film and Sound archive vice-president and Prostate Support Group chair Ian Austin that took the category gong.
In the Youth Category budding surveyor and South United Football Club volunteer Lachlan Smith pipped last year’s winner Aimee Caulfield to the award.
The 19 year old has been a member of the club for 15 years, stepping on to the committee two years ago, where he now serves as junior vice president, as well as coaching the Under 12s.
Meanwhile Indigenous blues musician and educator Buddy Knox was “blown away” to pick up the adult Volunteer of The Year Award, in front of husband and wife SES members Jeremy and Linda Bridges, as well as another South United volunteer Tammy Clark.
The 20 strong team of the Friends of The Tamworth Marsupial Park were honoured with the Volunteer Team Award, while Oxley Community Transport and the Tamworth Visitor Information Centre were also finalists.
Mayor Col Murray was the guest of honour at the ceremony, and praised the efforts of not only the finalists, but all the volunteers that keep Tamworth ticking.
“We are very fortunate to have such a strong and significant contribution in Tamworth,” he said.
“There are over 100 volunteer organisations in our region, who give over 300,000 hours back to the community each year – We simply couldn’t achieve all that we do without them.”
