Derbyshire mum's praise for MI5 employee after son gets personal response to his design for new spy suit

A Derbyshire mum has praised an MI5 employee who wrote a personal letter to her son, complimenting his idea for a spy suit.
Julie tweeted her delight after her son Daniel got a personal response from MI5Julie tweeted her delight after her son Daniel got a personal response from MI5
Julie tweeted her delight after her son Daniel got a personal response from MI5

Julie Broad tweeted a picture of the letter that was sent to her 10-year-old son Daniel by MI5 employee Charlie Rhodes.

And the tweet has since gone viral, attracting 28,000 likes, over 3,000 retweets and more than 400 comments.

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Daniel had written to the security service with an idea for a new spy suit.

And Charlie wrote back on behalf of the Director General of MI5 saying: "We think your spy suit design is very cool and has many interesting features."

He then told Daniel how to find out more about the work of MI5, as well as adding: "Thank you for expressing such a keen interest in the work of MI5. I have enclosed a pen which I am sure you can put to good use, maybe even designing more gadgets! Merry Christmas."

The response not only delighted Daniel but also his mum Julie who tweeted: "Major, major shout out to our security service MI5 and especially Charlie Rhodes for personally responding to my child's letter.

"You have no idea of the impact this has had!

"Engaging the future workforce brilliantly."

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Speaking to the Daily Mail, Julie said: "The response has been totally amazing, with some fantastic return stories and [so] much banter!

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"I merely wanted to share how much of an impact someone taking the time to listen and give feedback on my son's curiosity and creativity has had."

The tweet prompted many people to share their own experiences of companies or organisations engaging with them in the past.

Hilton Holloway tweeted: "Happened to me when I was 10 or so in 1977.

"Wrote to Manchester airport asking about plane spotting.

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"A chap called Martin Sweetapple replied with paper timetables. We were nobodies from a nowhere town. His reply had a massive impact on me - to get out and ask questions."

And Pauline Corfield commented: "Wonderful. I wrote to the Neil Armstrong crew after they had landed on the moon. They replied and sent me a photo and autographs. It was my most treasured possession."