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 316 to Day 320 - Meeting Jamie Andrew, supporting The Children's
Trust & Kids Company and walking in the London Boroughs of Hillingdon,
Barnet, Lewisham, Southwark, Camden, Newham and Hackney.
Despite another bladder infection
at the beginning, it’s been a great six days. The week started with a super
meeting with BRIT Mentor, Jamie Andrew. It was a delight to have time with
Jamie on the eve of him being honoured with an OBE at Buckingham Palace.
Jamie is a remarkable man; a true
inspiration. Jamie Andrew is a Scottish mountaineer who had his hands and feet
amputated following a horrific accident in the French Alps. Miraculously, Jamie
has carried on with his mountaineering career and has made some amazing ascents
all over the world, raising many thousands of pounds for charity along the way.
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| Jamie Andrew OBE - Inspirational Mountaineer and BRIT Mentor |
To read more about Jamie, this is
his website; http://www.jamieandrew.com/
It was a great start to the day
on Tuesday with the Virgin Group http://www.virgin.com/ supporting me with a Front Page
banner and message of support to BRIT and I, together with Sir Richard Branson
sending a message of support and tweeting BRIT and I. Sir Richard is a BRIT
Mentor and companies within the Virgin Group have been supporting me for a
number of years.
They are really getting behind me
as we come towards the end of the BRIT 2012 mile walk and I sincerely
appreciate all their support.
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| The Control Tower at Heathrow Airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon |
On Day 317, Tuesday, and with 60
miles to go, I was hosted by NATS http://www.nats.co.uk/ at Heathrow Airport in the London
Borough of Hillingdon.
NATS provide focused solutions in
all areas of air traffic and their services are now grouped into six distinct
areas;
§ Airports
– innovative Air Traffic Control (ATC) and airport optimisation services
§ Airspace –
safe and efficient en route services
§ Engineering –
efficient delivery of technology and infrastructure projects
§ Information –
helping move from people-based to data-based operations
§ Consultancy –
a window to the range of services and capabilities they can offer
§ Defence –
joint and integrated civil and military air traffic control services
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| In the Control Tower at Heathrow Airport, Hillingdon on Day 317 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk |
Today it was their new ATC Tower
that I would be visiting, so armed with my passport to go airside, together
with Niroshehaa Ragunathan
(Niro) a research scientist from RAFT; we met Nadine from NATS who gave us a
super tour of the control tower. I had invited Nero from RAFT http://www.raft.ac.uk/ as
they are one of the BRIT Partner Charities and Leonor, their Chief Executive,
is one of our BRIT Advisors.
RAFT is a super charity. Around the world, the lives of hundreds of
thousands of people are affected by skin disfiguring illnesses and damage such
as burns, wounds, limb amputations and skin cancer. RAFT is there to help them.
RAFT stands for the Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust. They are an
independent registered charity carrying out pioneering research into practical
and affordable ways to save and repair skin.
It was a pleasure to meet Niro
and my thanks to NATS for a great insight into what goes on the ATC
Tower.
From Hillingdon I made my way to
London Borough of Barnet where I visited Noah’s Ark Hospice http://noahsarkhospice.org.uk/
Noah's Ark is an expanding
children's hospice service, seeking to serve an estimated 900 life-limited or
life-threatened children or young people, and their families, living within the
communities of Enfield, Barnet, Camden, Haringey and Islington.
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| Visiting the Noah's Ark Children's Hospice charity in Barnet |
Their aim is to support these families, often by working in partnership
with other agencies, delivering flexible services that encompass the whole
family - enabling them to live positive lives and face the future with hope,
following the death of their child. These services range from practical and
emotional support, ultimately through to end-of-life and bereavement care.
This was a very humbling visit and I was delighted to meet many of the
nursing, counselling and administrative staff who provides vital support,
together with their wonderful team of volunteers. It was a pleasure to
meet everyone and to be given a super presentation from their key staff on
their work and what they aspire to achieve with their planned hospice build.
On Day 318, Wednesday, I started
the day in support of The Children’s Trust http://www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk/
as one of their Vice Presidents at the 20th Anniversary of the ICAP
Charity Day http://www.icapcharityday.com/
ICAP Charity Day has made a greater impact than they could ever have
imagined - by giving away all their revenues and commissions on just one day
each year, they have positively changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of
people less fortunate. Thanks to the efforts of their customers, staff and
suppliers, an amazing £11 million / US$ 17.7 million has been raised bringing
the total amount over 20 years to more than £100 million!
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| With the inspirational Ade Adepitan - a great friend and a BRIT Mentor |
I have been to the ICAP Charity Day before and it is a super event and the
opportunity to thank everyone at ICAP for their support to The Children’s Trust
and the many other charities that they support.
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| With my great friend Kate Silverton & Kate and Mike's beautiful daughter Clemency at ICAP |
Many Patrons and
Ambassadors from the charities they choose to support each year visit ICAP on
the day and it was super to see BRIT Supporter, Sir Steve Redgrave OBE, and
BRIT Mentors and friends, Kate Silverton and Ade Adepitan MBE.
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| With Darcey Bussell at the ICAP Charity Day |
It was great to have time to meet the ICAP Traders and support staff and
they even let me complete a deal on the phone with J.P.Morgan.
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| Sealing a Deal at on the ICAP Trading Floor with J.P.Morgan on the phone to raise money on the ICAP Charity Day |
I’m not quite
sure what I was told to say on the phone and listened carefully as I sold
£100,000,000 of something and my heart was pounding when the deal was
completed.
From ICAP, in the heart of the
City of London, I went on to the Boroughs of Lewisham and Southwark and was
delighted to be hosted by Millwall FC http://www.millwallfc.co.uk/ I’m grateful to the staff of
Millwall FC for inviting me to the ground and look forward to a close working
relationship with them as they are keen to support BRIT and grow a relationship
with BRIT and I.
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| Hosted by Millwall FC as I visit the London Boroughs of Lewisham and Southwark on Day 318 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk |
On Day 319 of the BRIT 2012 mile
walk, I started the day with a telephone call to my wonderful sister, Lesley,
who was celebrating her birthday.
It was then back to the BRIT 2012
mile walk and on both the Thursday and Friday I went to schools and colleges
that were supported by the super charity, Kids Co http://www.kidsco.org.uk/ .
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| Camila Batmanghelidjh - Founder of Kids Company and one of my BRIT Charity Advisors |
Kids Company was founded by
Camila Batmanghelidjh in 1996. They provide practical, emotional and
educational support to vulnerable inner-city children. Their services reach
17,000 children across London, including the most deprived and at risk whose
parents are unable to care for them due to their own practical and emotional
challenges. For many, the roles of adult and child are reversed and, despite
profound love, both struggle to survive.
These exceptionally vulnerable
children not only negotiate significant challenges in their family homes, they
also face immense threat within their neighbourhoods. Often they are exposed to
relentless violence, some are forced into working as drug couriers or
prostitutes, and many experience chronic abuse.
Kids Company provides a safe,
caring, family environment where support is tailored to the needs of each
individual. Their services and support empower children who have experienced
enormous challenges to lead positive and fulfilling lives. Despite great
difficulties, the children they work with are hugely courageous and embrace the
support that Kids Company offer.
In 2007 Kids Company was awarded
the Liberty and JUSTICE Human Rights Award. In 2010 they were selected as a
‘Child Poverty Champion’ by the End Child Poverty project for our success in
enabling children to achieve their full potential.
It is a pleasure to be supporting
and working with Kids Company this month and to be given the opportunity to
meet many of the young people in the schools they support.
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| At Cumberland Secondary School, Newham, on Day 230 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk (2) |
My visit on Day 319 was to
Parliament Hill School http://www.parliamenthill.camden.sch.uk/ in Camden and on
Friday, Day 320, I visited Cumberland Secondary School http://www.cumberland.org.uk/
in Newham and then the Skinner Academy http://www.skinnersacademy.org.uk/
in Hackney.
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| With students from the Parliament Hill School in Camden on Day 319 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk |
It was an absolute pleasure to meet the hundreds of young students
and to be invited back to all the schools in the future.
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| With students at Skinners Academy in Hackney on Day 230 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk |
My thanks to the
staff and to all the students I met who made me feel so welcome.
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| With students at Cumberland Secondary School in Newham on day 320 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk |
I ended Day 320 with 40 miles to
go.
Best wishes,
Phil