Day 321 & Day 322 - Hounslow, Ealing, Redbridge, Havering & Barking and Dagenham‏

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

A busy weekend with 5 more London Boroughs and the London Fire Brigade have been absolutely fantastic to support my BRIT 2012 mile walk.

My Saturday, Day 321 of the BRIT 2012 mile walk, started in Hounslow http://www.hounslow.gov.uk/ where I was warmly welcomed by Nigel Murray from the London Fire Brigade and Fire Fighters from Hounslow. 

The London Borough of Hounslow's Coat of Arms

We walked together from the Hounslow Civic Centre and through the centre of Hounslow. It was great to have time to talk and get to know each other and just when we had the opportunity to stop off en-route before turning back, an emergency came through on the radio and the watch had to respond immediately. I am used to this now and it is an example of the stark reality of the importance of Fire & Rescue Services throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland who put their lives at risk every day to support us.

 

With The Mayor of Ealing Mohammed Aslam The Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Ealing Robert Leader DL Mrs Leader and Scouts and Scout Leaders from Ealing

From Hounslow I then travelled to Ealing http://www.ealing.gov.uk/site/ where I was met at their Scouts HQ in Montpelier Park. I was honoured that the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Robert Leader DL, and his wife, together with the Mayor, Councillor Mohammed Aslam, were there to support me.

 

With some of the young beavers and scouts in Ealing

 

I gave a talk to everyone who had turned up to support me and we spent time talking about BRIT and the Challenge before setting out on circuits around the park where I had the opportunity to spend time talking to the Scouts. It was a delightful afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed time with Robert, Mohammed and all the Scouts and Adult Scout volunteers.

With the Mayor and Mayoress of the London Borough of Redbridge on Day 322 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk

On Sunday, Day 322 of the walk, I started off in the London Borough of Redbridge http://www.redbridge.gov.uk/ where I was met by the Mayor and Mayoress at the stunning Valentines Mansion and Park in Ilford. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to The Mayor, Mohammed Javed, who is the Redbridge’s first Muslim mayor. I was delighted to meet many of the staff at Valentines Mansion and Park who had all given their time to support me on a valuable day off. It was also a pleasure to meet Steve Brown from London Fire Brigade who had also come in on his day off to coordinate the support of Fire Fighters who joined us at the park. 

With the Deputy Mayor of Romford and Keepers of the Park in Raphael's Park in the London Borough of Romford

From Redbridge, I travelled on to Raphael’s Park in Romford to walk in the London Borough of Havering http://www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/index.aspx and was delighted to meet the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Eric Munday, and staff at the park. After a short walk to ensure I could visit three London Boroughs today, I travelled on to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham where I received a super welcome from Scouts in Barking and also from young people who are supported by a local charity called Brighter Steppings http://www.brightersteppings.co.uk/  

Brighter Steppings is a social enterprise that equips young people aged 10 -16 with employability skills such as self-confidence, communication skills, presentation skills and team work.

 

With Scouts and members of the Brighter Steppings charity in Barking and Dagenham on Day 322 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk

 

Their focus is based on developing intuitive, educational and exciting programmes for young people. It was interesting to hear more about their work and to spend time talking to the young people who had come along to join the walk.

The Scouts http://scouts.org.uk/ and their Scout Leaders were tremendous and it was a pleasure to meet so many scouts and to talk to them, their parents and adult volunteers. 

Being presented with a mug made by Lea from Brighter Steppings in Barking  dagenham on Day 322 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk



I am sincerely grateful to everyone for gifting their time to support me in all the London Boroughs and for making me feel so welcome. This is a busy month for everyone so thank you for joining me this weekend and for being part of the walk.

Visiting the Backyard Bee Wildlife Garden in Barking Riverside funded by the London Wildlife Trust and Lottery funding

I am feeling the effects of a year of walking much more now and am sure that this is due to knowing the finish is not too far away. I seem to be feeling the effects of fatigue throughout the day as much as after walking, so starting a normal working day in the evening after walking each day seems harder than before. I appreciate the blog is shorter than normal, but I am absolutely exhausted this evening and need to catch up on some sleep and rest as this is going to be a tough last 9 days.

My very best wishes,

Phil