Phil Packer pictured with some of the students at the Plaistow school

Plaistow sudents meet Phil Packer MBE

Kay Atwal, Chief Reporter Friday, December 7, 2012
4:32 PM

Pupils at a Newham school met Phil Packer on his walk around London to raise awareness of his charity despite suffering a spinal injury.

Year 10 students at Cumberland School Sports College in Plaistow met Phil Packer, MBE, as he continued his walk which will take him through the 33 London boroughs.

They listened to him talk about his life and the way he copes after suffering a severe spinal cord injury in 2008 and having been told he was unlikely to walk again.

Walking seven miles for Phil is the equivalent of over a marathon for a person without a spinal cord injury. When he finishes on December 18, he will have walked the equivalent of approximately 310 Marathons in 331 days.

His aim is to raise awareness of his charity – the British Inspiration Trust – and urge British businesses in the year of the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee to help leave a long lasting legacy by contributing to the £15m rehabilitation centre for young people facing adversity he is planning to build in West Success in the next three years.

He has already completed more than 1,900 miles out of his epic 2,012 mile “BRIT 2012 Challenge” walk and began the final 78 mile leg on December 1.

He will walk approximately 2 – 3 miles in each Borough of London as part of his journey proving time and time again that “Everything is possible,” in line with the motto of his charity – the British Inspiration Trust (BRIT), as he aims to raise £15 million to build the BRIT Centre of Inspiration in West Sussex for young people facing adversity.