ONE of the most frequent complaints I received during my years as a newspaper editor was that the younger generation got a bad press.

It was, therefore, a pleasure to write a front page story for The Northern Echo last week about three young friends, Ryan Chapman, 14, Rhys Dakin, 14, and Logan Jackson, 13, whose detective work saved the life of an elderly woman in Darlington.

The boys were walking through the West End of Darlington on a Saturday evening when their suspicions were aroused by a house which was in darkness and had the front door open. They decided to investigate and found Gill Wetherell collapsed on her kitchen floor with a critical lung condition. They boys summoned the emergency services and, after being placed on a life support machine at Darlington Memorial Hospital, Mrs Wetherell is now recovering.

Ryan and Rhys want to be police officers when they grow up while Logan wants to be a lawyer, and their heroics have led to radio interviews and interest from the national press.

They've also come to the attention of Durham Chief Constable Mike Barton, who was on the case as soon as he'd read the story: "These boys did a cracking job – it's no exaggeration to say they saved a life," he said. "I'm mightily impressed so I want to encourage their ambitions by giving them a day to remember."

The boys will, therefore, be invited to be detectives for the day with Durham Constabulary – Britain's highest ranked police force. They'll get an insight into forensic work, such as fingerprinting, and generally see what it's like to work on solving crimes.

Ryan, Rhys and Logan could easily have walked past that house. Instead, they've opened up all kinds of doors for themselves.

TALKING of heroes, the first Help For Heroes fundraising ball in 2014 was a memorable event, not least because one of the auction prizes was close to my heart.

It was the original work of art produced by Middlesbrough-born artist Mackenzie Thorpe for the front cover of The Northern Echo's Remembrance Sunday edition. It raised an incredible £14,000 on the night.

Sadly, I'm unable to attend the latest Help For Heroes ball at The Gardens Rooms at Tennants, Leyburn, on May 13 so the least I can do is to publicise what an amazing night's in store. This year, the auction prizes include a holiday to St. Lucia with flights, a catered stay on a Scottish estate for 20 people for a week, a trip to the Ferrari Factory in Italy, and four tickets to a Take That concert with a programme signed by the band and overnight accommodation.

The "Putting on the Glitz" ball and is a black tie event with a dash of 1920’s style and all proceeds will go towards supporting wounded, injured and sick Servicemen, women, veterans and their families.

The evening will include a champagne reception with canapes, dinner with wine, entertainment, dancing, late night bites and a ‘Glitz’ gin bar. There are still a few tables available – a table of 10 can be purchased for £1,500 by emailing Michaela.slay@helpforheroes.org.uk

THE reason I can't make the Help For Heroes ball is that we're off to a wedding in Suffolk and the online booking form for our hotel required a "reason for your visit".

In her haste, my wife put "weeding in Woodbridge". Better remember to take our wellies.

CALL me a party pooper if you like but...I'm old, I can't stand loud, repetitive music, I'm so claustrophobic I can't even go in a lift, I'm scared of the dark, I have an acute sense of smell, and I have a sensitive stomach. Apart from that, I'm gutted no one invited me to that rave in an underground sewer in Newcastle the other day.

BEING out in the open air is much more to my liking so I've dug the golf clubs out of the garden shed.

I couldn't work out why one of the pockets on my golf bag had piles of sawdust inside. It transpired that mice had been nesting there during the winter and they'd chewed up my balls.

IT might still be on the chilly side for golf but spare a thought for the 50 players who took part in an ice golf tournament on a frozen lake in Siberia last week.

I bet those par freeze were tricky.