I’m sure that most of you are aware that for the two or three weeks leading up to Christmas last year, Bob Heley  and I were involved in the Buncefield incident along with many other officers from Herts and other forces. By way of recognition for the hard work that was put in by all concerned (and I played a very small part in this) the Prime Minister and Mrs Blair invited 150 guests from the Police, Fire Brigade and other agencies involved to a reception on 1st March at number 10. I was one of those 150 people!!
Police and Firefighters travelled up together and a good time was had by all. Once through the security checks, which didn’t take very long, I met and shook hands with the man himself and caught a glimpse of Cherie as she chatted to guests across the other side of the room. Leo was chatting to my Inspector and he was promised some “goodies” from Herts Police. The canapes were delicious and were washed down with wine and fruit juice for the drivers.
The Prime Minister made his speech, and made reference to the silver having been put out on display. He said “The silver doesn’t get put out for everyone and we would like it to remain here”. This made everyone laugh, and then number 10 was ours for the evening to have a look round and enjoy.
It’s an interesting building with photographs of Tony’s predecessors lining the stairs, but I would hate to have to do the dusting!! Around 8pm and after photographs had been taken, we all travelled back to Hemel.
A very enjoyable and memorable experience.
Kim Ashworth, Community Officer