Mr Bond offers practical help and welcome friendship to families living in outback parts of Australia and travels to remote properties to lend a hand when people need it most. In total he has volunteered at 17 properties seven of which were in New South Wales.

He admits to relishing the wide open spaces of the bush and the opportunity to make a difference.

When Mr Bond first signed up to Outback Links, he and his wife Roz travelled 1800 kilometres to south-west Queensland.

"We were given a very warm welcome by the young couple running the 140,000 acre property, in drought conditions, on their own," he said. "They opened their home to us, complete strangers, but by the time we left we were firm friends.

"We were surprised by the variety of tasks which we were both able to perform and to really assist in a meaningful way. This, and the gratitude shown by the owners has kept us involved ever since."

Along with fixing fences and putting in gardens he has helped with mustering and has also listened to farmers battling isolation, droughts and other pressures.

As part of his work he remembers assisting a young mother who was required to run a sheep and cattle station on her own.

"She was struggling to get ready for shearing after floods had destroyed a lot of fencing, while at the same time having to drive her son 20 kilometres to the school bus each morning and evening. Roz did the bus run and kept the meals coming, while the owner and I worked together for most daylight hours and had things ready by the day the shearers arrived," he said.

Mr Bond could not attend the awards held at Port Macquarie Panthers on Friday as he was at Norfolk Island volunteering at the Uniting Church.

Through his work on the island, he has so far applied two coats of oil to 150 metres of fencing as well as doing some major pruning in the garden and has cleared the way for painting to the outside walls.

Mr Bond will now progress to the state finals in December.