Gympie man nominated for his tireless work in the community

Mr Dodt, who has run the Gympie. The real treasure is the town Facebook page for the past three years, said he was honoured by the nomination.

RECOGNITION: Gympie man Malcolm Dodt has been nominated in the 2018 Queensland Community Achievement Awards. Picture: Contributed

GYMPIE's Malcolm Dodt has been nominated for the Australia Pacific LNG Community Hero Award in the 2018 Queensland Community Achievement Awards.

Mr Dodt, who has run the Gympie. The real treasure is the town Facebook pagefor the past three years, said he was honoured by the nomination.

"I'm honoured with the recognition," he said.

"It's always great news being recognised in the community hero awards, I had no idea I was nominated."

The facebook page has amassed more than 7200 users, with the aim to publish only positive stories within the Gympie region.

"I set up the page along with several other people because I was sick of seeing negative things about Gympie," Mr Dodt said.

The page allows the community to contribute historical media, photos and videos that are then published on the site.

The items contributed are often reused by the local library and other organisations.

Mr Dodt researches the back stories to the items and provides education about local history. The page is produced on a voluntary basis.

Mr Dodt was nominated for the award based on his impact to the greater Gympie region.

"Malcolm's impact, despite his modesty, has permeated through the schools of the region, the wider Gympie Regional community and the community beyond the region," the nomination said.

"The introduction of the two webpages, Gympie: The Real Treasure Is The Town, and Nostalgic Nuggets has raised the pride of the Gympie community in its wealth of history.

"It has inspired members of the community to contribute material and research.

"The material is used for educational purposes both by schools and the community library.

"The material has raised the profile of those members of the community whose outlook is positive, and helped to quell some of the negativity so often seen on social media."

Mr Dodt said his team strived to ensure negative language was kept out of the social media page.

"We're always on the ball with this type of stuff. If someone swears, we delete the comment and if they do it again, the person is deleted."

The QCAA awards will be judged on October 5.

Finalists will be presented and winners announced at an Awards Gala Presentation Dinner on Friday, November 30.