Phil McCarthy 1970 to 1977

Phil McCarthy was one of a handful of boys who came to St Mary's from Our Lady and St Philip Neri Primary School in Sydenham and had a long journey to and from school from his home in Penge. But this was nothing compared to the extraordinary journeys he would take later in his life.

After gaining excellent A Levels in the summer of 1977 (As in Chemistry and Biology and a B in Physics) he briefly worked as a gardener for Lambeth Council before heading to Bristol University to study medicine.

After graduating he worked as a GP in Bristol for many years and helped set up the Bristol Homeless Health Service.

In 2008, he walked alone the 1200 miles from Canterbury to Rome and wrote a book about his inner and outer journeys called “Rome Alone”. On this incredible pilgrimage he raised money for Mary's Meals, a global movement which sets up school feeding projects for some of the poorest communities in the world. More information on Phil's monumental journeys can be found here.

In 2015 he walked from Rome to Istanbul supporting the International Refugee Trust. He is currently writing a book about this walk, to be called “The Dusty Roads of History”.

Since December 2015 Phil has been CEO of Caritas Social Action Network, the domestic social action agency of the Catholic Church in England & Wales: "It's Fr Graystone's and Fr Goonan's influence," says Phil, “Fr Graystone pointed me in the direction of medicine and Fr Goonan took two of us out on a night soup run for homeless people in central London.”

Phil  has also had dealings with Bishops Tom Burns and Paul Hendricks through his work. Bishop Tom is a former teacher (1974 to 1978) and Bishop Paul a former student at St Mary’s (1967 to 1974).

"For me St Mary's was a very positive experience despite the long bus rides back and forth to Penge," says Phil. "I was happy, thrived and ended up being elected School Captain. I was surprised but enjoyed the leadership role. There used to be a wooden plaque with a list of the School Captains on it. I wonder if it still exists."

Back in 1975, Phil, Peter Linnett, Andrew Carmichael and Tony Damer set off to walk the Pennine Way after their O-Levels, although only two completed.

The four are planning on walking it again  – lockdown permitting. And you'll be sure that inomnibuslabora.co.uk will be reporting this!