No 10 Downing Street invites you...

It has to be a scam

No 10 Downing Street invites

Mrs Judith Leary-Royce

to a breakfast meeting for content creators.

There will be Ministerial presence…….

I mean what would you do? Name spelt wrong is obvious red flag. And why on earth would I be invited to No 10?

But I couldn’t quite put it aside. I searched the names doing the inviting and found them on LinkedIn. So why not reply? No clicking on links mind you – I’m not that daft. I wrote in the address myself, accepted the invite and then waited. Two days later I got a reply, delighted that I had accepted.

It wasn’t at all what I expected

I thought: large group, five minutes intro for someone senior, then over to the Comms Team to explain what this was all about, before being popped back outside.

Boy was I wrong! There were just 12 of us – some were new to me, some I followed and some I really admired. Got a bit star struck when I saw @heatgeek!

Then Ed Milliband walked in. I assumed he’d be there for just a very short time, so I rushed up to introduce myself and hand over a copy of my book, Beginner’s Guide to Eco Renovation. Turns out he’s as passionate about retrofit as I am.

The State Dining Room

Moving into a very grand room we took our places around a massive, highly polished walnut table and began introductions. Honestly, I felt very old (I could have been mother to most people there) and slightly overawed by climate scientists, environmentalists and even an MBE. Imposter syndrome was alive and well!

Ed was keen to know about our work and to ask: would we help get the message out? The government recognise they’re not doing so well with their communication and need to get up to speed with this social media driven world. And they need help.

Ed Miliband - Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

I‘ve always liked Ed. From the outset, he struck me as sincere and serious about doing a good job for the country. He had a really tough job as Leader of the Labour Party and got the rough end of the stick with the media, but he’s stuck with it and I admire that.

When he talked with us about climate, I was impressed. Here was someone who feels as passionately about the earth as I do – thank heaven for that! He seemed truly interested to hear from us, including our concerns about this request.

Since starting on social media 18 months ago, it’s been important to me that I stay independent. I don’t want sponsorship deals, I won’t take money from anyone – and I won’t wax lyrical about something if I don’t truly believe in it. I also won’t be political. All I’m interested in is saving the planet.

If the government is doing something that’s good for the earth, then I’m there. If not, then I’m there to, but to speak out and argue the point. So yes, I’ll listen, I’ll support and I’ll challenge.

And the biggest challenge of the day?

Put 12 content creators in a room without their phones and what do you have? 12 people who’ve lost an arm. Nothing to write on, no way to exchange contacts, no video clips to be filmed. Outcome? I can’t recall details of what was said. I just know that I’m up for being involved. The opportunity to talk with people doing this level of work is a privilege and I’m going to make the best of it. For all the grandkids, for you, and the planet.

If you have questions you want asked, let me know and I’ll take them with me to my next visit.