Nominations invited for 2008 Award

Part of the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme is the BBC Sports Unsung Hero 2008 award - an opportunity to recognise the dedicated, and often voluntary, work of people who give so much of their time, effort and talent to encourage others to excel in grassroots sport. This is exactly the type of work Sport England will be focusing on under our new strategy. This award salutes the work of those people.

The BBC is keen to attract nominations from as broad a range of sports as possible so as to highlight the sheer volume of work that goes on in our communities as we begin the journey towards London 2012.

Now in its sixth year, the award, supported by Robinsons, is given to an individual who, on a voluntary basis, makes a real difference to sport within your region. This person will give their time and talents to enable others to participate in sport. This may be in helping an individual, team or teams.

• This sport can be at any level.
• They must be someone who gains no financial reward for their time and effort.
• They must be aged 16 years or over.

Fifteen local winners will be chosen by 15 BBC Nations and Regions: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, East, East Midlands, London, North East & Cumbria, North West, South, South East, South West, West, West Midlands, Yorkshire, Yorkshire & Lincolnshire.

Regional judging panels, made up of a cross-section of BBC sports staff and other local sports experts, will decide each regional winner in November. They will then join a star-studded guest list at the Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on 14 December. The overall winner is then decided by a judging panel including representatives from the BBC's Nations and Regions, plus previous Unsung Hero winners.

Bursaries of up to £2,500, provided by award supporters Robinsons, are also available to winners of each regional award to help them with their work in sport and the community.

So if you know someone in your area who goes an extra mile to change the lives of others through sport and deserves recognition, the BBC want to hear from you. To nominate your Unsung Hero, either fill in this form and click ‘Submit’ or, if you prefer, download a print version for completion and return.

Closing date Friday 31 October 2008.

Last year's BBC South West award was picked up by Tony White for his inspirational work with Exeter Harriers Athletics Club.