FOOTBALL: I FIND it interesting that, at this time when England football supporters are being urged to support their team in the most positive of ways, there is very little support or acknowledgement of fans by the England team themselves.

A group of us took our very excited children to the Middlesbrough Training Ground at Hurworth and were among a crowd of about 100 very patient and good-natured supporters hoping to see the players train, and maybe be able to collect an autograph or two.

Fans were kept a full pitch further back from where they can normally view the Middlesbrough players when they are using the facilities.

Without binoculars it wasn't even possible to recognise the players from that distance.

The fans remained very patient, in the hope that the players may make some effort to acknowledge them at the end of the training session. They didn't. They didn't do as much as wave across to the fans when they left.

Surely the FA and the players themselves must realise what heroes they are to many kids ? My two children may not understand the full implications of what the stewards were saying about it being for security reasons that they were being held so far back, but they do understand simple good manners and surely it is not too much to ask, for a simple wave or acknowledgement from a coach window?

A lot of fans left very disheartened after such an arrogant display from the players. They certainly gave the impression of being prima-donnas to whom it was too much even to wave to the kids. - Joanne Todd, Darlington.

I WOULD like to join with The Northern Echo in congratulating Brooks Mileson on his sponsorship of the Northern League (Echo, June 2). A magnificent gesture on his part.

This follows the example set by Sunderland footballer Niall Quinn who gave the colossal sum of £1m to children's charities on his retirement from the game. Gary Kelly of Leeds United gave £500,000 to a medical charity.

The loyalty and generosity of North-Easterners are legendary. Where else would 40,000 enthusiasts turn out to support a team that is bottom of the league? A team that has won nothing for 30 years is greeted with rapture when it takes to the field.

Sunderland were playing decent football when Quinn was there and have been relegated since his departure.

Ever optimistic, we will be promoted next season. But, in any case, as long as there are people around such as Quinn, Mileson and Kelly, why worry, we can be proud of such men. - Leo Everest, Shotton.

DUNKIRK VETERANS

I AM trying to get in touch with soldiers who served in the Durham Light Infantry, the Tyneside Scottish and the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, or any other soldier who served in the British Expeditionary Force during the campaign in France and Belgium in 1940 - or their families if they have written memoirs about the campaign.

I am also keen to talk to men from the Royal Navy who evacuated the BEF in little ships, HMS, SS ships or cross-Channel steamers.

This is for a book, which is to be a tribute to the heroes who fought to make the 1940 evacuations from France possible. If anyone can help, please contact me. - Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, 37 Tanza Road, London NW3 2UA.

GM DEBATE

I AM writing to say that the national GM debate, GM Nation is now under way.

Everyone knows something about the remarkable advances that scientists have made with genetic modification and many people have strong views.

What we are doing with GM Nation is to organise a series of debates and discussions all over the country during the next six weeks so that ordinary people can tell us what they really think once they've heard all the arguments - and we will pass their considered views on to the Government which has to make the key decisions.

In the North-East there will be a regional conference at Harrogate on June 13. - Professor Malcolm Grant, Chairman of the GM Debate Steering Board.

EDUCATION SPENDING

I FEEL I must write to dispel some of the confusion over school budgets.

The Government hype has been very loud that it is giving extra money to schools, but it has been taking away other funds, namely the Standards Fund monies, without replacing them, which is causing great concern among governors and headteachers in County Durham.

The Schools Forum on which I serve is an independent body and not an arm of the LEA. We highlighted this problem in a letter to David Miliband MP, Education Minister, back in February, but were given a fudged reply.

Now the schools are beginning to feel the effects and it is bound to impact on our children's education. - Mrs Anthea Tallentire, Bishop Auckland.

HOOLIGANISM

I AGREE with PD Shoulder (HAS, May 21) with his comments on hooligans who invaded the pitch at the Stadium of Light and the players' behaviour.

Hooligans should be punished but the players who ran towards the crowd that night were partly to blame.

Players' goalscoring antics, which we see at every match, seem to be time wasting and childish. Some players suddenly go into overdrive and start running around like a headless chicken. Other just stand transfixed, arms outstretched, while others give us an impersonation of a plane coming in to land.

These so-called stars should stop acting like schoolchildren at playtime and concentrate on playing football. - Jack Amos, Willington.