I HATE to say ‘I told you so’, but... I told you so. Just three days after I claimed (last Monday) that Swindon is fab, the old place only went and proved me right, and beyond any doubt.

On Thursday I was lucky enough to be at the Pride Of Swindon awards ceremony, as I was part of a team (the organisers of last year’s Battle of Britain anniversary events) that was shortlisted for an award.

We didn’t make the final cut, but no matter, because we were treated to a perfect demonstration, from close range, of what makes Swindon fab, which is: its people.

It was more than a little touching to hear about how much local people do for one another (and, in one case, for a community of refugees in Calais), but hardly surprising to a student of local history, such as me, who understands that this sense of community has been a feature of the town over generations.

As I said last week, the human spirit that makes Swindon Swindon is not to be found everywhere.

I hope those honoured by Pride Of Swindon will excuse me for singling out one winner, but I do have personal reasons, and she was the youngest.

Phoebe Maddison, who is only 11, primarily got her award for raising money and - just as importantly - for raising awareness about Type 1 diabetes.

As a sufferer herself, she knows what it’s all about.

So do I, because my daughter Holly, who is now 21, has Type 1 diabetes too, and it’s something I’ve written about before.

Little Phoebe gives me a good excuse to bring it up again, because she deserves to be listened to.

She has a twinkle in her eye and a natural charisma that tells you that even something as challenging as Type 1 diabetes is no match for her.

I am proud to say that it is no match for my daughter either, although just lately she has been getting pretty angry about it.

Her anger is not with her condition, since that would achieve nothing, but with the ignorance of many people she encounters., even some colleagues at university, whom you would expect, frankly, to have more brains.

Many people think Type 1 diabetes is the result of eating too much sugar, like tooth decay, and therefore its sufferers have brought it on themselves.

That’s because they confuse it with Type 2, which Britain’s blame culture and an insensitive media likes to tell us is due to people making the wrong lifestyle choices, ignoring the fact many people have it simply because they are old.

There is only one thing worse than suffering a disease and that is being made to feel you are to blame for it.

And that is especially unfair on young people with Type 1.

Nobody likes to be taught a lesson by an 11-year-old, but I urge you to watch Phoebe’s award-winning film, called What Do You Really Know?, on YouTube. It sets the record straight.

To be fair, most ignorance comes from inexperience, but it’s frustrating that we have to live in a world that jumps to the conclusion that somebody must be to blame for anything that’s not right, even other people’s health.

And it bring us neatly back to the Pride Of Swindon award winners.

What many of them have in common (and probably without realising it) is they never look to blame or judge.

If somebody needs help or support, they just give it.

And that’s something to be truly proud of.