Myself and Lynne Carroll (Gurkha Justice Campaign) on the lawn at No. 10 Downing Street

How I gained exclusive access into No. 10 Downing Street from waking up, throwing on my clothes to running down to Westminster on my own, not knowing anyone at 10am then finding myself on the lawn of No. 10 Downing Street having tea and biscuits with Joanna Lumley and Gordon Brown 5 hours later…….

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Laura Hawkins and I am just finishing off my Masters in Broadcast Journalism at The University of Westminster. I am going to tell you about how a small radio documentary on the Gurkha’s turned into one of the biggest day’s of my journalism life so far when I talked my way into No. 10 Downing Street and gained exclusive inside interviews with Joanna Lumley, Jacqui Smith, Phil Woolas and also recordings with the Prime Minister.

A photograph I took of Jacqui Smith and Joanna Lumley standing next to me on the lawn of No. 10 Downing Street