THOSE who know me well will testify that I’m not very good at dealing with illness. I have a notoriously low pain threshold and I make medical mountains from molehills.

I was, therefore, not in the best of moods when I drove to Framwellgate Moor in Durham last week to present a cheque to the Heel and Toe Children’s Charity.

Presenting £9,400 from the Gannett Foundation – a grant scheme run by The Northern Echo’s parent company – should have been viewed as one of the more pleasant tasks of an otherwise difficult working week.

The Heel and Toe Children’s Charity does a fantastic job and is aiming to raise £150,000 to create a centre of excellence in a former GP’s surgery in Pelton.

Unfortunately, on the day of my visit, I had a nasty eye infection. It was badly bloodshot and felt like I had a needle sticking in it. I just wasn’t in the mood.

Then, while being shown around the Heel and Toe building, I met nine-year-old Shea McGuinness, one of the disabled children being helped by the charity.

Shea, with the calm encouragement of clinical manager Alan Macdonald, was desperately trying to put one foot in front of the other. Every step demanded huge effort and determination. He managed three tiny steps before being challenged by Alan to throw cuddly toys into a basket a few feet away. The first half a dozen throws fell short but then Shea managed to hit the target with a squidgy blue hippo.

To him, it was a triumph to match his favourite player Loic Remy scoring a winner for his beloved Newcastle United.

Not once in the ten minutes I spent with Shea did he stop smiling.

To be honest, I came away feeling embarrassed about the fuss I’d made about my eye infection.

􀁧 To donate to Heel and Toe, or help as a volunteer, call 091-386-8606 or email info@heelandtoe.org.uk WHEN I got back from Durham, I had an appointment at Specsavers in Darlington town centre. Half-blind, the surroundings seemed unfamiliar. Then I realised I’d walked into Santander, next door, instead. Should have gone to...

ATTRACTED by a photograph someone had circulated of this quirky news bill, famed BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine revealed on Twitter that he’d been turned down for a job on The Northern Echo in the 1980s.

He was clearly still bothered about the short-sighted rejection, so I tweeted back, saying I was prepared to heal the psychological scars by offering him a job.

His reply was almost immediate: “That’s great – just need to let them know at this end.”

We haven’t discussed salary yet.