My
BRIT 2012 mile blog; sharing encounters and memories from every county of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland throughout 2012
2012
BRIT miles with a spinal cord injury; the equivalent of 310 marathon distances
in 331 days to support young people post-trauma
Thanks
to everyone for supporting me on my toughest challenge
This
month’s BRIT 2012 mile walk is December in London
Day 312 and I headed over to meet
Canary Wharf Group PLC who has kindly given permission for me to hold my final
day of walking on the 18th December at Canary Wharf. It was a
pleasure to meet Howard Dawber and Lauren Mullings who made me feel very
welcome and could not have been more supportive. I walked the route with Lauren
and then Howard made time to meet me and talk through ideas and thoughts on how
we can raise awareness of BRIT during December and on the Final Day. I look
forward to working with everyone at Canary Wharf Group and am sincerely
grateful for all their support.
From Canary Wharf I drove on to
Tadworth House in Surrey, the home of The Children’s Trust http://www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk/.
I am a Vice-President of the charity and have visited many times. It was my
absolute pleasure to walk part of my BRIT 2012 mile walk with the children,
their families and staff from every department of The Children’s Trust who were
absolutely terrific.
The Children's Trust provides
care, education, therapy and rehabilitation to children with multiple
disabilities, complex health needs and acquired brain injury.
Their services include the UK's
largest paediatric brain injury rehabilitation centre, support in the community
for children and young people with acquired brain injury (ABI), The School for
Profound Education for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties
(PMLD), short breaks, transitional, palliative and long-term nursing care.
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| With some of the children and staff at The Children's Trust |
They are a remarkable charity and I am always made to feel so welcome. On every visit there, I have the privilege of meeting more and more staff as well as spending time with the children and talking to parents. Often people ask how I can gift my time to other charities when I'm running BRIT, and my response is "how can I not?" I try to use what happened to me for good and if I can give back to another charity, especially one that supports young people then I will. I feel there is always time and always a way. What makes my relationships with the charities I support special is that they understand me, my commitments and are flexible and understanding to accommodate me. They are two way relationships and it is a pleasure to support them as much as I can.
My thanks to everyone at The
Children’s Trust for a super day and I look forward to children and staff
joining me in Canary Wharf on the 18th December. I then drove on to
West Sussex. I ended the Day with 84 miles to go.
Day 313 and the day before the
beginning of the last month! I spent the day walking in between packing the
gifted BRIT Land Rover and working through BRIT Correspondence. I also had the
opportunity to sort out the cottage and some personal tasks that I haven’t been
able to spend time on for a while. I confess I don't travel light and need
quite a lot of supplies. I finally got packed, finished some emails and phone
calls, and then spent time with Jeannie and Trudy who are supporting BRIT and I
with areas of finance and administration. I am so lucky to have good friends
who are willing to gift time to support the charity and I. My thanks to Jeannie
and Trudy for all their super support. I ended the day with 78 miles to go.
Day 314 was my first of 33 London
Boroughs; Waltham Forest.
After making sure the car was
fully packed I got in and drove to my first location to walk with the UK
Scouting Association http://scouts.org.uk/
The Scouts, along with the Girl Guides, Armed Forces Youth Groups and the Fire
and Rescue Services have been some of the most faithful challenge walkers.
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| A wonderful welcome from the Mayor and International and UK Scouts at the home of Scouting in Gilwell Park |
They have shown up all over Great
Britain and Northern Ireland to walk with me, sometimes in absolutely dreadful
weather. They have always been cheerful, enthusiastic and interested in the
work of BRIT. I am proud to be associated with an organisation that puts young
people at the centre of all they do.
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| An honour to be presented with the 23rd Wimledon Scout Group Scarf in its beautiful Hindu colours |
This was my first visit to the
Scouts since being made an Ambassador and it was fitting that my first day of
my final month was with UK Scouting Association. I was welcomed by the Mayor of
Waltham Forest as well as International Scouts and Scouts from the UK. It was
great to meet Scouts from Bolivia, Mexico, Uganda, Korea and Japan.
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| Being presented with the Korean Scouting Scarf by Korean Scouts at Gilwell Park |
I was also joined by Scouts from
Petts Wood, West Wickham and Wimbledon who had all travelled in to meet me. I
thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Scouts today and I was honoured that
representatives from all the nations present, as well as the UK Scouts,
presented me with their national or UK group scarves.
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| With Scouts from Mexico who preented me with their Mexico Scouting Scarf at Gilwell Park |
I will treasure them and remember
fondly, the time we spent together today.
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| Honoured to be presented with the Ugandan Scouting Scarf at Gilwell Park |
After a great day of walking I
headed in to Central London to my accommodation during my London stay. The 51
Buckingham Gate http://www.51-buckinghamgate.com
is a 5 star Taj Hotel and part of the TATA Corporation and they are generously
gifting me a suite during my walk as a base for me and a BRIT 2012 Challenge HQ
for BRIT Mentors, BRIT Advisors and BRIT Volunteers to come to during December
for our BRIT Meetings. I have to put this gift into perspective as 51
Buckingham Gate are gifting a suite for 18 nights which is extraordinarily
generous and sincerely appreciated. It is super to be in the heart of London
with parking for the gifted BRIT vehicle and have the space to hold meetings.
I have a long association with
the 51 as they have gifted accommodation to me over the past two years when I
have been up in London on BRIT business. The TATA Corporation has a long
history of philanthropy and they support numerous charities. I am very excited
to stay at the 51 as it is a beautiful hotel, the staff is wonderful and I am
always so well looked after. My sincere thanks to General Manager, Prabhat
Verma, for his continued support, to Mandee Morris for making all the
arrangements and to Araceli Ruis Perez, Manager at the 51, for taking care of
me. Their motto of "home away from home" is definitely true and when
I return each night it will be to a genuine warm welcome from the staff. It is
great to be back and I am delighted to have the support of 51 Buckingham Gate,
Taj Hotels and the TATA Corporation.
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| The Courtyard at 51 Buckingham Gate |
The past 14 days have been busy with meetings, planning strategies, walking miles and visiting other charities. While it has all been a bit of a whirlwind, I am now focusing solely on the last month of the challenge in London. I'll be walking all 33 London boroughs and looking forward to being joined by BRIT mentors, volunteers and young people. I promise to do a better job of updating my blog by writing daily highlights!
I end today with 72 miles to go.
Best wishes,
Phil