A record of a visit to London by a group of 10 and 11-year-old primary school children from Middlesbrough who are part of the University of Teesside’s ‘Meteor’ project which encourages further education within this age group. Travelling with their mentors they first meet David Blunkett, Peter Mandelson and Margaret Beckett inside Downing Street before presenting a folder to Prime Minister Tony Blair. Following this they take a tour inside the Millennium Dome before meeting the Vice-Chancellor...

A record of a visit to London by a group of 10 and 11-year-old primary school children from Middlesbrough who are part of the University of Teesside’s ‘Meteor’ project which encourages further education within this age group. Travelling with their mentors they first meet David Blunkett, Peter Mandelson and Margaret Beckett inside Downing Street before presenting a folder to Prime Minister Tony Blair. Following this they take a tour inside the Millennium Dome before meeting the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Teesside Professor Derek Fraser and Ashok Kumar, Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland inside the Houses of Parliament. Title: Meteor goes to Downing Street 9th March 2000 Children and their mentors sit or stand around in a waiting room of Bank Top railway station at Darlington, they all wear caps with the insignia of the University of Teesside and about it ‘Meteor’. The group gather on the station platform, beside them a man with a television camera. Some of the children gather around a woman who is flipping through a folder. The man with television camera stands over her shoulder filming, nearby a camera flash goes off. On board the train four of the children sitting together around a table, nearby some of the mentors sit at another table as a man hands over a file and t-shirts with the University if Teesside logos to them. The cameraman is also onboard recording the journey. At Kings Cross railway station the group are lead across the concourse onto an open-top double decker bus parked outside. In the entranceway of Downing Street some of the children, still wearing their caps, stand with their mentors in a line. The children are introduced to David Blunkett, Secretary of State for Education and Employment who apologies for the delayed arrival of Prime Minister Tony Blair. He asks some of the children to explain what they have been doing, the mentors step forward and provide details. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Member of Parliament for Hartlepool Peter Mandelson arrives and begins chatting happily with the group shaking hands with some of the children. A photographer wonders around taking pictures, Mr Mandelson leaves. The photographers pose the group around David Blunkett who gives a television interview to Tyne Tees political reporter Gerry Foley. As the group continues to wait Margaret Beckett, Leader of the House of Commons appears and begins speaking with them. A man in the group flicks through a folder which Mrs Beckett looks at, some of the children gather around while others wonder about looking around the room. Mrs Beckett leaves. The group gathers again in a line as Prime Minister Tony Blair appears through a door and accepts a folder presented to him by two of the children. He flicks through it and thanks them for this gift. He chats happily with the children about using computers and the internet. He confesses he’d never used a computer until he did a course recently, he’d sent his first email only the other day. Once again, the group is posed for a photograph with the Prime Minister before he leaves taking a mug of coffee with him. Back onboard the open top bus the group drive past the Millennium Dome, some in the group take photos. They are given a tour inside the dome. One of the boys in the group leads the camera towards a balcony which looks down onto a stage area below where a dance performance is taking place watched by large crowds. They wonder through the ‘Talk zone’ and watch a presentation of a ‘talking wall’. They wonder through to another zone. The group pose for the camera on the deck of a boat docked on the Thames next to the dome. On the South Bank The London Eye or Millennium Wheel with a group of passengers making their way into one of the pods. Inside a committee room at the Houses of Parliament the group listen to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Teesside Professor Derek Fraser give a speech about the ‘Meteor’ project thanking those involved. The children come forward to receive a gift from Professor Fraser after which Ashok Kumar, Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland address the group about the visit and his pride in the university. The film ends with the group back onboard the open top bus at night.