TONY Hodges is big on small acts of kindness. His mission is to make complete strangers smile.

That's why Tony has been rewarded with the title of Silver Joinee as a member of a huge collective called 'Join Me' dedicated to 'niceness' and 'random acts of kindness'.

The 25-year-old, of Newton Farm, Hereford, heard about Join Me through his friend, James Frost, last July.

"I knew James was doing something but he was quite secretive about it. I thought he was joining a lonely hearts column or something."

Then Tony received a cryptic text message from James, advising him to buy Danny Wallace's book, Join Me.

"In essence it is a cult but when people hear the word cult they always connect it to the bad meaning. Join Me is a good example of a good collection of people."

The collective's only stipulation is for Joinees to perform a random act of kindness (RAOK) every Friday.

The reason for their good turn is not to recruit more members, but to make someone smile and spread positive vibes throughout society.

Like Tony, most Joinees modestly prefer the 'hit and run' approach when they carry out their act of kindness and disappear before the recipient has a chance to thank them.

In fact, so modest are 10 of the 25 Herefordshire Joinees that not one of them replied to emails sent by the Hereford Times asking if they would be interviewed.

Only careful detective work tracked down Tony to his work place and he was persuaded to talk about what he does.

Every so often Joinees have a big meeting when they collectively perform RAOK. At one it was raining so they bought umbrellas from charity shops and gave them to the homeless.

Another time they found a man selling helium balloons so they bought them all and gave them to small children who were out shopping with their mums.

"We never tell Joinees to go out and spend money though, because it cheapens it. It's just if you've got the odd spare coin," said Tony.

Although he admits it's a bit strange, he can't believe how much the collective has changed his life.

"It is definitely a bit weird but I like it. The way my life's gone for the past six months I can't complain at all.

"It makes me appreciate my life and the people around me and if that's the only thing that comes out of Join Me then it's got to be good."