Tony De Matteis

Tony, 49, is my father, the man I look up to and the city of Peterborough`s unsung hero. For 26 years, he has given up his spare time and put his life in danger to form part of the Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade (PVFB). PVFB are the only volunteer-run fire brigade in the UK. They are not the same as retained firefighters, they don`t receive a penny for their time, not even to cover their expenses. They receive the same training as wholetime firefighters and attend fire calls across the city and surrounding areas. Tony, who is currently chief officer of PVFB, has always worked full-time to support his wife and two daughters, and is currently a prison governor at HMP Littlehey. All of his free time is devoted to being on-call for the next shout, taking part in exercise drills and training new recruits. I`ve lost count of the times I heard my dad`s bleeper going off in the middle of the night, when he`d just got home from work and had to be up early the next day. There have been birthdays, Christmases and numerous other special occasions where my Dad couldn`t be there. But my sister and I didn`t mind, because our Dad was our hero. We knew he was somewhere making a real difference to the community - saving people`s lives and their livelihoods. My Dad would be honoured to carry the Olympic torch through a city he has devoted his entire life to. It would be a very fitting way of Peterborough giving something back to a truly upstanding member of their community.