Take over with a make over

On Friday 6th November thousands of young people from across England took over jobs, swapped roles and worked alongside adults in schools, police forces, fire brigades, charities, businesses, the media and many more.

The Exeter Connexions centre on Queen Street joined in the mass takeover when 17 year old Darren Mowatt from Exeter, took over the role of the helpdesk assistant, running the main reception area for the morning, as part of this year's 11 Million Takeover Day.

Organised by the Children's Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, Takeover Day encourages organisations across England to open their doors to children and young people so that they can swap roles and work alongside adults, and see for themselves the processes behind the decisions made in the world of work – some of which affect their daily lives.

Whilst on working at the helpdesk Darren put together a customer notice board in the reception area which gives young people information and on self awareness and understanding their feelings.

As a keen interior designer Darren was also allowed to make over the staff room and put into practice ideas he had in mind for its new colour scheme.

"I really enjoyed doing the remake of the staff room and the boards around the centre," said Darren. "I like interior design and it's an area of work that I would love to get into. That or fashion design."