This week takes me to the counties of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire as I sweep through the South West of England during March. I was up at 0500 hours and set off on a 3 hour drive to Gloucestershire and deep into the Forest of Dean to start Day 57 (Tuesday) with 750 young people from Gloucestershire.
The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other principal towns include Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud, and Tewkesbury. When considered as a ceremonial county, Gloucestershire borders the preserved county of Gwent in Wales (now Monmouthshire), and in England the ceremonial counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Somerset. Ceremonially, it includes the area covered by the South Gloucestershire unitary authority.
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| With the Dene Magna School in Gloucestershire on Day 57 of the BRIT 2012 Challenge |
I arrived at the Dene Magna School www.denemagna.gloucs.sch.uk to a super welcome from the Head Teacher, Stephen Brady and his staff and students. I was also delighted to meet two charities; one of which I know very well.
The first charity I met was Time and Place http://www.timeandplace.org.uk/. Time and Place is a charity set up by a group of driving instructors and a Road Safety Officer in the Forest of Dean.
The charity aims to give young drivers a thought provoking presentation about choices they can make when driving a vehicle and the tragic consequences of making the wrong ones. They achieve this by using;
· Hard-hitting video clips of road accidents
· An informative talk from a road safety officer about the consequences of drinking
and driving, using a mobile phone and driving at excessive speed
Time and Place believe that they:
· will reduce the number of deaths and injuries amongst our young drivers
· will reach as many students as possible
· will make very young children aware of the need for road safety
· will build a driver education centre
Time and Place want Gloucestershire, and particularly the Forest Of Dean, to improve all aspects of driving standards by having the best road education facility in the country.
Sadly a number of pupils from Dene Magna School have been tragically killed on the roads in the Forest of Dean and therefore the charity shares a very special relationship with the school. So far, Time and Place have presented to over 30,000 young people at local schools and colleges and all have had a very favourable response.
The second charity was represented by a local family who is connected to and supports Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). I am a Patron of this remarkable charity and have been for some time. Alison Cox MBE is the Chief Executive of CRY and is also an Advisor to BRIT. Alison is a wonderful lady who I hold in the highest esteem; a friend who exudes warmth, understanding and complete devotion to CRY and all the families and young people they support.
CRY's Vision for 2012 is to work with cardiologists and family doctors to promote and protect the cardiac health of our young by establishing good practice and screening facilities devoted to significantly reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death throughout the UK.
Please call CRY on 01737 363222 if you have suffered a bereavement
My 8 miles at The Dene Magna School were thoroughly enjoyable and I think I met the majority of the 750 students at the School. Every two miles I was met by a different year and age group and we talked non-stop throughout the day about their aspirations, charity work, their thoughts on adversity and their ideas about BRIT and BRIT Mentors. I had a brilliant time and I’m sincerely grateful to Debbie for coordinating the day and for the opportunity to talk to so many enthusiastic young people.
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| Presented with the Gloucester Fire & Rescue Service Badge on Day 57 of my BRIT 2012 Challenge |
I finished Day 57 with 1578 miles to go.
Best wishes,
Phil