AGED eight, Peter Bright began volunteering to raise money for his cash-strapped Cubs group.
Sixty-three years later, he has raised an incalculable six-figure sum for charity and good causes, and it's still rising.
This week he, and a string of other groups and individuals from the borough who give up their time for the good of their community, received some well-deserved recognition.
The tenth Mayor's Volunteer Awards were held on Sunday, with 16 gongs handed out.
Mr Bright, 71, of Nork, won this year's outstanding contribution award.
"It was a shock," said the grandfather-of-one from Nork Way, "but very humbling just to be recognised."
In 1950, he began helping his father raise money for his Cubs group, struggling for funds in a country still recovering from the ravages of the Second World War.
"I suppose after that I just never learned to say 'no'," he said.
Whether it's dressing up as Santa or cooking a Chinese meal for 70, Mr Bright has ploughed his time into countless causes.
He founded the Nork and Cheam village fetes, raised money with the Round Table and Rotary Club, and led the team raising money for a swimming pool at Warren Mead Junior School, in Epsom Downs.
He has worked with 1st Nork Scouts and St Paul's Church in Nork for many years, and, since 2000, annual fundraising garden parties at his home have raised £15,000 for charities including the RNLI, the Royal Marsden, and Cancer Research UK.
He helps organise the Christmas float around Banstead and Cheam and volunteers with Age Concern, driving the elderly to hospital appointments. He is also a key figure in the organisation of the annual free Music in the Park event in Nork, among other roles.
"When you sit back and think about it you get satisfaction, thinking 'I started that', or ' I did that'," he said. "Community is very important. I think we have lost our way. If you go back 100 years, everything revolved around the church, the cricket club, you had lots of little village communities. They have expanded and become conurbations and you can't identify them.
"I may not go to church, but I don't want it to collapse, so I will fundraise for them."
The annual awards scheme is organised by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in partnership with Reigate and Banstead Voluntary Service.
Voluntary service manager Des Shepherd said: "This year's award ceremony was fantastic with so many awards given to volunteers all with an extremely important role in the community. Congratulations to everyone who received an award.
"We are always calling out to those who think they might like to start volunteering – there are so many ways you can give back to the community."
