The popular former Great Britain star, who also appeared in the 2002 Olympics in Sydney, headed to Haydon Bridge High School and inspired pupils with his tales of how he made the top of his sport after working his way up from being a farm hand on his family’s farm in Lancashire.

Heap’s visit to the rural school was part of his ambassadorial role for Sky Sports Living for Sport project, which provides athlete mentors to schools across the country with the hope of inspiring the next generation of sports people.

He was keen to promote learning through physical activity, and led pupils through a variety of fun activities to promote team work, coordination and communication skills among many others.

And Heap, who won gold medals at both the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and Manchester respectively, certainly made a big impression on the Haydon Bridge youngsters who could relate to his farming background.

Sixth former Ellie Robinson, of Haltwhistle, said: “It’s strange to have somebody who has been in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games in such a rural area, and it’s really nice to hear about what they have achieved.

“It’s not very often you hear of people with a rural background going on to do so well, and it gives us inspiration. His sessions have been very fun and I can’t normally do PE, but I have enjoyed it a lot.”

While working with a group of A-level PE students, Heap also worked with Year 10s who have chosen the subject, and they too were suitably impressed with the visit.

Ethan Hill, of Otterburn, said: “It was really nice to relax and have fun, and we don’t get the opportunity much to do this kind of thing.”

Katie Woodward, of Haydon Bridge, added: “It was something different and it’s great to have someone like Craig in to teach us new things.”

During Heap’s visit, he worked with a project group of 20 children from Years 7 to 11 chosen by their teachers in the morning. This was followed up with a practical session with the PE students in the afternoon. He is to return to the school after half term to give an all-school assembly, and he is looking forward to heading back west.

He said: “All through my sessions, I am feeding back the learning part of it while developing new skills. This group may not have worked together in a team before, but we have set them a challenge and they went for it.

“Not every child is turned on by theory, so learning through practical sessions helps a lot.

“We as mentors try to encourage the children in school through sport, and I believe now more than ever we need to get them turned on by PE and physical activity.

“We have rising mental health issues with young people because they are under so much pressure with exams and school work, but a lack of physical activity makes these problems worse.

“We as mentors have to think out the box to get young people interested and that is why we have a team of over 100 athlete ambassadors delivering fun, learning-based activities at schools. Key skills we want to develop are competitiveness, working under pressure, breaking barriers and team work, and the children here really applied themselves and focused well.”

Following Heap’s visit to Haydon Bridge, he worked with a group of sports leaders from Ponteland High School at the City of Newcastle Gymnastics Academy.