local From the cloudy town of Warrington on the banks of the Mersey to sunny Christchurch on the banks of the Avon…
Carl Owen has arrived! Six months ago, unemployed Carl Owen was given the opportunity of a lifetime Today, he enjoys the fame afforded to someone who has bared his soul on a reality TV show. Only last month, he was being sought out by visitors to Christchurch Food and Wine Festival so they could be photographed with him. Carl shot to fame in April on BBC3’s ‘Invasion of the Job Snatchers’ when he was one of a group of young people given work experience with the chance of permanent employment. Selected from all over the country, they were taken to Christchurch - a town portrayed in recent times as having a large elderly population. It was anybody’s guess as to how the trainees would fare in their placements.
I tried every day to get work and I knew what ‘climbing the walls’ meant because that’s what it felt like
For the next eight weeks Carl and his fellow trainees were the stars of the show, “I was filmed from 5am-10pm seven days a week,” he said. “Nothing was scripted although sometimes we were asked leading questions.” A reality show wouldn’t be a reality show without drama and there was plenty of it. You might think the scene showing Carl being sick on the mini golf course after a pint would have been his most embarrassing moment, but no. He says, “I’m not a very capable drinker due to a health condition at birth. If the TV cameras hadn’t been there, I would have been more discreet, but I was more embarrassed and ashamed about what happened at the dinner table, rather than over a bodily function.“ He’d upset one of his housemates who had spent hours cooking a splendid meal. Not to his taste, he was particularly critical about the rice and peas. “I did try and apologise as best I could,” he says shaking his head, as if he still doesn’t believe how thoughtless he was. (Although to be fair, he did make a valid point. It was rice and beans, not rice and peas). When the six part series, narrated by Alice Levine came to an end last month, it was revealed that three of the 13 trainees would be offered their placements. One of those was Carl and he has now moved to Christchurch.
When Mark met Carl – mags4dorset’s Account Manager Mark Beechey met Carl during a visit to Christchurch
According to Carl, it was “a life changing experience.” One of 13 who featured in the programme, he had been unemployed for six months prior to the show. “I felt like I was being punished by being unemployed,” he said. “I tried every day to get work and I knew what ‘climbing the walls’ meant because that’s what it felt like.” He was encouraged to put in an application for the show by a friend, but initially was told he was too old - not what you want to hear when you’re only 29. A few weeks later, when slightly inebriated at a music festival, Carl received a call on his mobile. Thinking it was a friend, a hilarious exchange followed, Christchurch is a quintessentially British only for Carl to discover it was the BBC offering him town and very pretty. I am very happy here an audition. “I think the confusion helped,” says Carl, who Was he sorry to say goodbye to Warrington? got through the audition with “I’ve been independent since I was 19, so it wasn’t like Robin Lambe 99 other hopefuls. leaving home for the first time. I gave up a flat, the girl I was with Carl In August 2013, all 100 seeing and my two cats, John and Yoko. came to Christchurch, “It was a big lifestyle change, but it’s good to be working and where numbers were to have money in my pocket. I’ve created a whole new life and whittled down. Carl social network. It was a fresh start with a bit of hard work, grit found the process and determination. exciting. “There were “Christchurch is a quintessentially British town and very ‘meet and greets’ with pretty. I am very happy here.” the traders as well as When asked how he was coping with his new found with local councillors. celebrity status he said, “I don’t look upon myself as a celebrity The producers needed when I leave my caravan in the morning and cycle to work!” to know how much we wanted the jobs and how we would respond to filming.” Without any experience Carl’s story has a happy ending, and here’s a last word from his in the meat trade and no boss, Robin Lambe. “When the BBC approached me, I was happy aspiration to be a butcher, to offer someone in an underprivileged area a placement. Carl is Carl was placed with Robin pleasant, he’s fitted in well and is very good with customers. As Lambe at FA Lambe & an apprentice, he has a lot to learn and it’s our plan to train him. Son Quality Butchers and It will take three to four years.” though it wasn’t his dream job, he reported daily at Robin has been a butcher since he was 19 and he’s now 65. 5.30am. He couldn’t afford Originally from Walthamstow, Robin moved to Dorset in 1974 to to be squeamish, but said work with his father at FA Lambe & Son in Marlowe Drive, which he found “handling meat opened in 1968. cold, wet and messy, but I got used to it.”
28
4Dorset June 2014
www.mags4dorset.co.uk