On Thursday 15th January I along with 19 other Diana Award holders had the great pleasure of meeting with the Prime Minister at Number 10 Downing Street to help celebrate the 10 years since the launch of the Diana Award. The day was fantastic and it was so great to meet all the other Diana Award holders and Diana Award staff.
After braving the cold outside the gates of Number 10 for around half an hour we were all finally allowed inside the most secure street in the country. I must also add that is probably one of; if not the only front door in the country that also does not have a key hole... and although the letter box looks real it isn't actually a working letter box!
After getting our photos taken outside the door of Number 10. We all went inside and were shown in to the Pillared Room where we were treated to a huge array of cakes and sandwiches that truly looked too good to eat... I must say I was a fan of the scones; I only had 1 or 2... Well maybe 3 or 4!
We were allowed to roam freely around the state dining room and the small dining room, the architecture and history of the building was truly immense. The Prime Minister arrived a little late, but he can be forgiven for lateness, he is a very busy man after all. I do believe he had just flown back from Berlin after a summit with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. The Prime Minister was very kind about the award and he wished us all the very best of luck in the future both with the future of the award as a whole and with our own careers and work that we are involved with.
The Prime Minister showed us around the White Drawing Room and the Terracotta Drawing Room. When he opened the doors to the White Drawing Room he was unexpectedly greeted by a quite surprised Sarah Brown, his wife. We were also introduced to the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark who was meeting with the Prime Minister that day. We spoke to the Prime Minister about how we wanted to end the misrepresentation of young people in the media and that we wanted him to continue his support of the Diana Award, this was something that he was very keen to help us with.
The Prime Minister, after showing us through the rooms of Number 10 then had to depart but he was left with a book which was filled with profiles of us all. Before we left we had a visit to the Cabinet Room, Gordon Brown invited us to sit on any of the chairs... so taking him to his word, and I sat on his very chair. A member of staff explained to me that the Prime Ministers chair was the very chair that the late, great Sir Winston Churchill sat in when he gave his infamous wartime speeches. The chair is always kept at an angle so the PM can get sat down and on to business as quickly as possible.
I must also not forget to mention the magnificent Downing Street staircase which is adorned by photographs and sketches of all of Britain’s former Prime Ministers, hung in chronological order. Every time a Prime Minister leaves office each picture is moved down one to make room for their picture to be hung.
On the way out of Number 10 I managed to grab a chat with the man who opens the infamous Number 10 door, he told me that the door of Number 10 is changed every 4 - 5 months in the middle of the night and swapped with 1 of 3 copies of the door to make sure they are all in good condition.
I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say we all had a truly unforgettable day!