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
Another hectic 48 hours, but two
great days.
Day 329 was meant to be a bit of
a quiet day before the end of the challenge; however I started off my day with
a chance meeting with General Sir David Richards and his lovely wife, Lady
Richards (Caroline).
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| Lady Caroline Richards and General Sir David Richards |
General Sir David is Chief of the
Defence Staff. He has been a constant supporter of BRIT and I value his insight
and advice. I also had the pleasure of meeting General Sir Richard Shirreff and
his lovely wife Lady Shirreff (Sarah-Jane).
Ironically earlier in the week
driving back to my hotel in London I was watching people going out for dinner
with friends and I felt a little sad. The Challenge has been brilliant, except
for the fact that I’ve not been able to see my family and friends as much as I
would like this year. Then I had another happy meeting yesterday when I got to
see good friend and BRIT Mentor, Kate Silverton. Kate has been a great friend
since we did the Three Peaks challenge for Sport Relief in 2010. I always have
a good time with Kate and like all good friends you just feel better when
you’ve spent time with someone that really knows you. It was also a pleasure to
see Kate’s husband Mike, and their beautiful daughter, Clemency.
I walked and then did some work
in the afternoon, before it was time to get ready and head out for the BBC
Sports Personality of the Year Awards http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/sports-personality/20742240
at the Excel Centre in East London.
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| With 10 time Paralympic Gold Medallist & BRIT Mentor, Lee Pearson CBE, at BBC Sports Personality of the Year |
This award show is extra special to me for
two reasons. First I was humbled in 2009 to be selected to receive the Helen
Rollason Award.
Since that time I’ve become
active supporting the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity http://www.helenrollason.org.uk/
as a Vice-Patron. I really believe in the work they do every day. Secondly,
many of the BRIT Mentors attend the event, so I knew I would have a chance to
catch up with people I hadn’t seen for a while and give the reaction my beard
got, some of them hadn’t seen me for a while either!
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| With the inspirational Olympian, Denise Lewis OBE, at BBC Sports Personality of the Year |
The BBC Sports Personality is an
uplifting show and this year, given London 2012, there was a lot to celebrate
in that arena. The atmosphere was charged with positive energy and everyone was
having a good time. I had the chance to catch up with inspirational BRIT
Mentor, Lee Pearson CBE, 10 times Paralympic Gold medalist.
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| With Olympian, BRIT Mentor and friend, Iwan Thomas MBE at BBC Sports Personality of the Year |
I also had a great
time seeing Iwan Thomas, BRIT Mentor and Olympian. Iwan was with me on the
first day of the challenge back on the 24th January, where it rained
the entire walk. Iwan is planning to be with me on the last day of the
challenge walking around Canary Wharf. This is just a great example of one of
our inspirational BRIT Mentors.
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| With the inspirational Olympian Katharine Merry at BBC Sports Personality of the Year |
I also had the chance to chat
with Denise Lewis, who is grace personified. I really appreciated her kind and
supportive words of encouragement, together with those of Katharine Merry. I
had a quick catch up with BRIT Mentors Sally Gunnell and Sharron Davies.
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| With the inspirational Olympian, BRIT Mentor & friend, Sharron Davis MBE & her daughter,Grace, at Sports Personality of the Year |
The
evening was fantastic and a real opportunity to catch up with mentors and
friends I had not seen for a long time. It was great to see Lord Coe being
recognised for his achievements and superb to see Tour de France and Olympic Medalist
Bradley Wiggins receive the top award. What I thought was going to be a quiet
Sunday actually turned into a lovely day of seeing friends. It’s given me a bit
of a boost as I go in to the final two days of the challenge.
Day 330 had me up early for a
radio interview and then off to meet John Willis from BAFTA to discuss ways
that BAFTA and BRIT can work together.
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| John Willis - Chairman of BAFTA and an Advisor to BRIT |
John is a lovely man and we had a
great chat about BRIT and our commitment to working with young people. I am
delighted that John has agreed to be a BRIT Advisor.
Then it was back to the hotel for
a couple of hours to do some emails and catch up on work before heading off to
Chelsea Football Club http://www.chelseafc.com/
.
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| At Chelsea Football Club on Day 330 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk |
I have been so impressed this year by the warm welcome I have received at the
clubs. All of them are committed to working with and supporting young people.
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| At Chelsea Football Club with the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Sandy Cahill, & Christian Collison from Chelsea FC |
It was lovely to be at Chelsea and I enjoyed meeting everyone there. I am also
sincerely grateful for to the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Sandy Cahill, for joining
me today and showing her support.
The final stop of the day was the
Royal Hospital Chelsea http://www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/ , home of the Chelsea
In-Pensioners.
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| With In-Pensioners at The Royal Hospital Chelsea on Day 330 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk |
This is a special place to me and I honour and value the Chelsea
Pensioners. They have been with me since the first marathon back in 2009. In
fact, one of the pensioners, Michael, rolled up the finish line tape that day
and handed it to my mum after I completed the marathon. That small gesture
meant so much to my mum and she was touched by his kindness.
.jpg) |
| With In-Pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on Day 330 of my BRIT 2012 mile walk |
I always like
going and chatting with the Chelsea In-Pensioners. They are so genuinely
upbeat, positive and all around fun to be with. This was a great way to end my
day.
Ending the Day with 4 miles to
go.
Best wishes,
Phil