‘‘More businesses should be involved in child friendly Leeds because it gets businesses better employees in the future.’’ My day at work, by McCauley Bonner, age 16

 McCauley Bonner became a member of the Leeds City Council child friendly Leeds team for the day, as part of Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day 2012. Child friendly Leeds can help your business offer valuable work experience opportunities to young people like McCauley.

My day working in the child friendly Leeds team was a great success in my opinion because there was always something to do. The thing I liked most about my day at work was working with IT because it was very simple and helped me get enough work done. The thing I disliked was that the working day was too long – I would like to shorten the working day!

One of my tasks was to interview Ian who is a freelance corporate lawyer, to find out more about his work with children and young people in Leeds. Ian is a good role model for young adults and students who want to know more about his work. Ian is a great mentor and he always wants young adults to look up to him. One of the quotes that Ian said which was very motivating and inspirational was “Do it your way.” This was very well worded because what he was trying to say was ‘‘don’t think about what people say – just do it and make sure that you enjoy it.’’

Working for Leeds City Council for the whole day has given me great insight into working for a company. Also it has given me good experience of business meetings which is very helpful for me, especially learning some team building skills. I enjoyed learning more about child friendly Leeds. More businesses should be involved in child friendly Leeds because it gets businesses better employees in the future.