"Kirstie thinks I'm angry!" Phil Spencer on his "epic" charity challenge

Phil Spencer, an emotional man, spoke of his determination to end the ravages caused by brain tumors in children after witnessing the impact of the disease.

Phil, the TV favorite, chokes his tears as he talks to the camera about his preparation for leading a team against Everest in the Alps, a grueling expedition to raise money for The Brain Tumor Charity .

The co-presenter of Channel 4 Location, location, location says he wants to make a difference for kids like Toby Ritchie, a friend of the 11-year-old Spencer family who was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of five.

Phil, the father of two, said, "If any of my children were suffering from a brain tumor, I would absolutely like to receive the necessary help. For the moment, this is not the case. "

Toby – whose parents, Rob and Tanya, are friends of Phil and his wife Fiona – underwent surgery and a grueling chemotherapy treatment to keep his tumor at bay, but his position on his brainstem meant that he had not been able to get his tumor right. it could not be completely removed.

Like thousands of other children around the world, Toby lives with the effects of the disease and its treatment, including problems with balance and fatigue.

Phil, who will lead a five-person team of Hampshire comrades during the expedition that will begin in Switzerland on March 5, said: "We are going to have four difficult days in the mountains but [it’s] nothing compared to what they're going through. "

The team will rise to the height of Everest – 8848 meters – on skis with skins that will give them grip.

They will sleep in bunk beds in a mountain hut and spend up to 12 hours a day on the snow, burning an average of 10,000 calories a day, which is equivalent to running three marathons back to back.

This is the second time Phil has risen to the challenge of Everest in the Alps, which requires intense physical training and mental preparation in the weeks before.

He managed the feat last year despite a fractured coast before the day of departure. He reveals that his co-presenter, Kirstie Allsopp, feared not to come back from the climb in 2018.

He said: " Kirstie thinks I'm absolutely angry! She thought I was angry last time. And in fact she was very worried. It was very kind because she worried about security and my heart. And would I really come back?

The money collected by Phil and other people via the unique endurance test will help The Brain Tumor Charity to fund the Everest Center for research on low-grade (slow-growing) brain tumors.

The center brings together German and British experts to study the causes of low-grade brain tumors and to develop and test new treatments for this disease.

It was created after Toby's father Rob Ritchie, an HSBC executive, founded Everest in the Alps in 2015 to raise funds for The Brain Tumor Charity following his son's diagnosis.

Phil says he's decided to take up the challenge because he knows that the funds raised for The Brain Tumor Charity and the Everest Center – more than £ 4 million since 2015 – make a real difference to kids like Toby.

Phil said, "Toby is a great little boy and he leads a life as normal as possible, but he faces tremendous challenges.

"He had dark moments in his life, as well as in his family's life. And who can say they will not come back?

"He's a brave little boy. But it's one of the 26,000 brave little people around the world facing these challenges. "

Recalling the relentless rise of Everest in the Alps last year, says Phil : "What will make us progress as a team is knowing that we are making a difference. And The Brain Tumor Charity and the Everest Center need this support and need us to make a difference. "

Phil's is one of three teams participating in this year's Everest in the Alps Challenge, which starts and ends in Verbier.

Sarah Lindsell, Executive Director of The Brain Tumor Charity, said, "We are delighted that Phil has joined this group of pbadionate charity supporters who have worked so hard to help children with brain tumors.

"Their extraordinary efforts for The Brain Tumor Charity have allowed us to offer real hope to families whose lives are forever changed by a diagnosis of a brain tumor in the child.