As someone that has been honored to be asked by several charities to serve as an Ambassador, Patron and Envoy, I have observed from the celebrities I have met that they also have interests beyond the field that makes them famous. Many of them feel passionate about a cause and want to use their fame as a platform to push for positive changes and to support organisations they believe in. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just because they are a celebrity it doesn’t mean they no longer care about issues.
We live in an age where the power of advertising, powerful images, the media attention of celebrity and celebrity ideals drive fame and fortune into our consciousness. High profile figures are becoming role models. Where once our role models were just our parents, and those around us, young people are now heavily affected by high profile figures and celebrities they admire and are inspired by.
After I was injured and started my series of physical challenges to raise money I developed a bit of a public profile. To go from relative anonymity to being interviewed on television was difficult, but that publicity helped me reach my fundraising goal. When I started contemplating my future I could have used my profile to get a job in an organisation or parlayed my profile into more celebrity style endeavours. Instead I chose, as one of my friends calls it, a “difficult, but rewarding path” the founding and building of BRIT.
My injury gave me a second chance in life and I choose to focus on the positive: what we can do, not what we can’t. I’ve chosen a life path to change people’s minds in a positive way. I am disabled and with the way my life has changed, this has also changed my priorities. I want to ensure my current profile and any future profile is channeled to the benefit of others. I still have bad days, however working for the benefit of others, I don’t have time to wallow in self-pity. I’m a lucky man, and surrounded by loving family and friends, am engaging in work that is incredibly rewarding. I don’t have a celebrity high profile, just a profile of someone who gets on with things in a positive way. What I do hope though is that I can use this as a strength to continue to gain the support of high profile individuals and wholesome celebrities to come together and deliver inspiration and change the lives of young people who desperately need to believe in themselves and that they can. My ask of these role models is to share their gift.
People often ask me why BRIT doesn’t have “Ambassadors” or “Patrons” and I reply that the BRIT way is different. When I started developing the framework for BRIT I knew I wanted to create an innovative organisation. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I dislike duplication of effort, as it serves no purpose. The idea was not to create something different just for the sake of being different, rather BRIT is designed to serve both charities and our young people in a way that lets us all work together in a positive and productive manner.
To harness the power of people that understand the BRIT ethos and want to support BRIT, I developed the concept of BRIT Inspirational Mentors. The BRIT Mentors will reach out to young people, identified by their charity, that are facing difficult times. Rather than asking high profile individuals or wholesome celebrities to come along solely to fund raising events or appear in ad campaigns, BRIT asks them to look deeper and gift their time, a minimum of one day a year, to young people. By doing so, BRIT mentors are sharing themselves, and their strengths to inspire our young people, a truly unique way to support a charity.
Celebrity or not, we all have the chance each day to be a positive role model and inspire someone to make their life better. You will see a wide variety of BRIT Mentors; those with a high profile and those that have turned their situation into a positive example to others. To me, they are all inspirational and are all intent on gifting their time to change lives at the BRIT Centre. I am grateful to all the BRIT Mentors for their support and their gift of time and inspiration.
Phil