Tamworth Lions Club volunteers are often the ones you don't see behind the scenes doing great things for our community

During this week The Leader will be featuring a number of local volunteer organisations, putting the spotlight on the work they do in our local community as our way of saying thank you for all the hard work and dedication.

"Helping here and helping there, just doing bits for the community" is how Lions Club of Tamworth member Bill Hely described their contribution.

But there's no doubt it's much, much more than that.

Every year the volunteers complete thousands of hours of unpaid work to support various charities and the local community, mostly in the background.

"There is a lot of time we do work and do not get noticed or mentioned," Mr Hely said, "but we're just in there and do it because it needs to be done."

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The group raises thousand of dollars annually to help support local charities, with events like the annual big book sale and the Great Country Duck Race during the country music festival.

They also host numerous fundraising barbecues and events.

"We've done this year, from the first of July last year to last week, we've done 4,296 man hours," president Phil Greentree said.

"We recently gave $25,000 to the Tamworth prostate group. We also give money to the Westpac Helicopter Rescue Service, sporting bodies, 360 Scully Park Swimming Club, Brain Foundation and more," he said.

The Lions Club is one of the largest volunteer organisations in Australia.

Since the formation of the original group in Lismore, the organisation has grown to include over 1200 clubs and 25,000 volunteers across the country.

Lions Australia CEO Rob Oerlemans said the 25,000-plus volunteers often serve their communities silently, behind the scenes.

"Whether you want to cure cancer, help the deaf and blind, diabetes prevention, support communities after a natural disaster or simply meet some new people and give back to your local community - Lions can help you make a difference," Mr Oerlemans said.

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