Meeting the Duke of York

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Prince Andrew and his (former) friends are unfortunately trending again today for the wrong reasons Did I ever tell you about the time 17-year-old me met the Duke of York? bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61970358 🧵

The year is 2007 I am part of the young people's advisory group for the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) The Full Stop campaign is a resounding success raising £250m I'm invited (along with my boy Naeem) to a celebratory event with /

then PM Tony Blair and HRH (as he then was and I think still kind of is) the Duke of York The first part of the event was held at a central London venue The Prince made a speech, we exchanged pleasantries and took some photos gettyimages.co.uk/detail/video/tony-blair-and-prince-andrew-visit-nspcc-full-stop-news-footage/693450156

More exciting, however, was meeting Tony Blair (as you can see below). 2 things come to mind: 1) Why did @SerenaDecordova not tell me to give the hair a quick brush forward before the paparazzi moment (teenage me would definitely have had a brush in his pocket) /

2. Why am I smiling like I'm on a first date? I guess the PM was funny but I digress. The second part of the event was held at Tottenham Hotspurs FC with just the PM. Now for the exciting part /

One of Blair's aides walked up to me and asked if I was interested in travelling in the motorcade 17-year-old me (and today me) found the thought of that very exciting so we agreed I still remember the sirens, wizzing through London with police escorts and the fun of it all

At TFC we had a meeting about the biggest issues affecting young people Sadly we were having very similar conversations about the problem of knife crime still faced by inner-city youth today /

That said, life felt better in the early 2000s than it does today for those of us from poorer backgrounds A future of not being poor seemed within reach Anyway, meeting ends and its time for the final photo opp with the PM

As we're all rustling around, I end up right next to him The cameras are flashing, there is moving around and I decide it's now or never So I ask - "I know your wife is a successful barrister. That is my dream. Is there any chance you could get me some work exp with her?"

He smiles An aide takes my details The event ends and we all go home I think nothing of it

2 weeks later, I'm in my sixth form common room and I get a phone call on my Nokia leaf phone (I think that was it but not central to the story) I answer and hear the voice of a woman on the other end "Hello Joel, this is Cherie Blair, I understand you met my husband recently"

As you've probably figured out, this story is not about Andrew at all But more something I often say to young people - if you don't ask, you don't get! I'm proud to say, all those years later, little old me from Stratford did achieve that dream landmarkchambers.co.uk/people/joel-semakula/

I promise to pay it forward P.S. Support the criminal barristers striking. These guys often work for the most vulnerable in our society I hope you never need one but the truth is, the CJS could affect any of us at any time They should be properly paid #Action4Justice END