On Monday night he received the top award at the town's Australia Day ceremony - Citizen of the Year - an honour that's left him feeling "a little bit humbled".

"I felt pretty proud to be acknowledged by the community and the people that I've helped," he told the NVI.

"I married a Gunnedah local girl and she brought me back here five years ago and we brought our family here.

"Over that time I started helping out at the P&C and through my work at the Railway Hotel I started helping people with charity events such as 'Pink Up Gunnedah' and 'Movember'.

"I also helped sporting clubs gain sponsorship through the owners of the pub here."

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The president of the P&C at Gunnedah Public School and treasurer of the Gunnedah & Districts Liquor Accord, Ray is also a dedicated volunteer for WIRES and has championed sport in the Shire.

He is the volunteer canteen coordinator at Gunnedah Public and has shown a passion and commitment in helping the Gunnedah community through many different initiatives.

Handling work, volunteering, kids sport and other commitments is something he thanks his dedicated wife Vivi for.

"I have a lot of help from my wife," he laughed.

A dedication to the town he lives in is what keeps him going though, and he says he wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

"I just feel like Gunnedah is such a good community, there's a lot of people that go unnoticed, it's just that I've been nominated," he said.

"It's a very good town for community support, not only with people but with the businesses in town - everyone gets behind great causes which makes it a great place to live."