 Our visit to Downing Street!
In late 2003, I (Julie of Jooly's Joint) received
an invitation in the post to attend a reception hosted by the Prime Minister's
wife Cherie Booth QC at 10 Downing Street.
At first, I thought it was a joke! But I read
the leaflet that accompanied the invitation, and it seemed that it was for
real! The reception was in honour of the MS Society's 50th anniversary.
So, the big day came: 10 December 2003. I live
in Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, so I travelled down to London during the
day.
Actually, the day had already been rather
hectic. In the morning, I'd been in the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire studios in
Peterborough doing a live interview for BBC Radio Scotland about a new
'accessible' talking phone project that RNIB is involved in (I work for RNIB).
After the interview, Radio Cambridgeshire asked if I'd come back the next
morning to do the same interview for their station. I said 'yes', though it
would have to be from RNIB's London office as I was staying down there
overnight after a reception at Number 10. 'Oh, can we interview you about that
instead?!', they said! So I agreed to be by an ISDN line (radio quality phone
line) by 8:20am the following morning to do the interview (fool!).
So anyway. I eventually arrived in London and
caught a cab to the hotel that I'd booked in Victoria. 'What you down here
for?' asked the cabbie. 'I'm going to Downing Street to meet Cherie Blair', I
replied, casually. Needless to say, he was impressed!
I checked into my hotel, had a little rest, and
ventured out again. I hailed a cab in the street. 'Downing Street please'.
'Well that's a first!', said the cabbie. 'It's a first for me too!', I said,
laughing. The cab dropped me at the gates of Downing Street about 30 minutes
before we were due to go in.
I stood around for a bit, getting cold. Then I
spotted Mike O'Donovon (Chief Executive of the MS Society), Ken Walker
(Marketing Director of the MS Society) and Sarah Phillips (Chair of the MS
Society) walking towards me. We decided to go for a quick drink until it was
time to enter Downing Street.
At 5:45pm the big moment arrived! Before we
could get into Downing Street itself we had to go through a security check.
This was a bit like going through security at an airport. Metal detector,
frisking, baggage check, etc.. Once we had proved who we were and had been
cleared by security we were allowed to walk into Downing Street itself.
This was a magical moment! It being close to
Christmas, the street was decked with lights and a huge Christmas tree. Downing
Street is quite short and number 10 is a lot closer to the main gates than I
had realised. The door to number 10 was already open so there was no need to
knock!
We stepped inside and were greeted by the staff,
who were all very nice. The first thing we noticed was a HUGE Christmas tree in
the foyer. We handed in our coats and were asked to head upstairs.
'Heading upstairs' meant going up that famous
staircase along whose walls are displayed photographs of all the past prime
ministers (there must have been a lift somewhere as several people using
wheelchairs were at the reception).
When we got upstairs we were directed to a
beautiful reception room and offered a drink (red wine for me!) and canapes.
There were about 40 of us at the reception, a mix of people with MS, MS Society
folk and key supporters of the society (ie donors).
I moved away from the crowd to chat to a lady I
recognised from the last time a group of people with MS had been near Downing
Street - campaigning for beta interferon! As we stood chatting, a door to our
left opened, and a lady came up to us and said 'would you like to meet
Cherie?'. We looked passed her and there was the first lady, dressed in an
immaculate white suit. We couldn't believe we were actually going to meet
her!
My friend spoke to her first, and then it was my
turn! I introduced myself to Cherie and told her that I'd had MS since I was 19
and that I represented a community of people with MS called 'Jooly's Joint'
that use the internet to communicate with each other. Cherie asked if I worked
at the MS Society, and Sarah Phillips the MS Society Chair said 'oh no, Julie
does this from her home'. Cherie shook my hand. I was struck, as I often am, at
how petite people from the media are in real life!
Cherie greeted all 40 guests individually and
after we'd said 'hello' to her we gathered in this second reception room to
chat. I met lots of very nice people, many of whom are clearly very committed
to supporting us, despite not necessarily having a direct link with MS
themselves.
Once she had met everyone, Cherie made a
ten-minute speech, congratulating the MS Society for 50 years of service to
people with MS and calling on those in the room who were in positions of
influence to do all they could to support the effort to find a cure for MS. It
was during this time that where I was and how I came to be there really hit
home. I thought of all the members of Jooly's Joint around the world, and how
privileged I am to be asked to represent our group on occasions like this.
It also reminded me of how I felt when I was
first diagnosed with MS and how far I have travelled in my life to get to where
I stood at that moment. On the one hand I felt the overwhelming responsibility
as a representative, doing a job. And at the same time I felt all the emotions
of being a person with MS, a condition with no known cause or cure. It was
rather moving.
When Cherie's speech was through, Sarah Phillips
said a few words. Cherie then apologised for needing to leave, but she had a
carol concert to attend. However, she added 'but you are welcome to stay and
have a good look around'.
So we did! My friend Hilary Freeman and her
partner Steve Somerset were there, and the three of us decided to explore. We
saw a presentation case from President Nixon that contained moon dust from the
first lunar landing. We also went into the main banqueting room where Nelson
Mandela had recently dined. I was particularly struck by the original art on
the walls, that included a number of portraits depicting famous people from the
world of medicine.
All too soon the evening was over. As I stepped
out into the cold night air, I wondered what might happen to bring me to
Downing Street again, or whether this would be my only visit. It was a
memorable night. Thank you all for making it happen.
The following morning I was interviewed on BBC
Radio Cambridgeshire as planned, answering questions about what it was like
inside Downing Street...!
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