Hi folks,

I am delighted to be launching my weekly column which hopefully you will find informative, interesting and look forward to reading each week.

Over the next few weeks I want to introduce you to the Chronicle’s Sunshine Fund, some of our supporters, the children and families we support, plus I want to keep you up to date with our events and how you can get involved.

We are so lucky to have fabulous loyal patrons Ant and Dec, Pam Royle and Stephen Miller who give us their time allowing us to help more children and families in the North East.

I caught up with Stephen, Olympian Gold medallist and Team GB captain at Jury’s Inn on the Quayside, who told me about his plans for the Rio Paralympics. Stephen is a great ambassador for the charity having been helped by us some years ago.

He met some of the Sunshine Run team from Irwin Mitchell who are sponsoring this year’s Sunshine Run. We managed to dodge the snow showers to allow Stuart, one of our volunteers, to take photos which we will use to launch the run.

Talk in the office this week has turned to Go Bananas, our month- long appeal. I hope you will all join in and organise your own event for the Sunshine Fund. We are also getting ready for our next grant round when the committee will be looking at £45,000 worth of equipment requests so we can give out more of our funding.

This will help children who desperately need equipment such as specialist baths, wheelchairs and equipment that will ensure they get fit, healthy and work better at school. I visited the Newcastle United training ground as Papiss Cisse wanted to meet Chloe Glover, a lovely young girl to whom we supplied a motorised wheelchair. She was so excited to meet Papiss who signed autographs.

Chloe said: “I am looking forward to showing my friends, they will be so jealous.”

Best Wishes, Caroll

If you would like to enter the Sunshine Run, would like more information on the fund, or find out how to apply for a grant, check out www.sunshine-fund.org.uk or call me on 0191 201 6289.