TEAMS of young people are to build their own hovercraft to encourage their interest in engineering.

About 80 students from secondary schools across Darlington are expected to take part in the event next month, where they will be supported by working engineers.

The event, under the Foundation for Jobs banner and delivered by a team from Bradford University, comes as the campaign aims to increase awareness of careers where jobs are to be created in the North-East, such as engineering, by building links between schools and business.

The aim of Foundation for Jobs, a joint initiative to combat youth unemployment involving The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council and The Darlington Partnership, is to build young people’s understanding of sectors where jobs are likely to be created in years to come, but they may not have thought of as a career either through a lack of understanding of what is involved or perceptions they have of an industry.

Research has shown that children who have links with industry while at school are up to five times less likely to be unemployed at 25.

A Foundation for Jobs spokesman said: “The aim of the activity is to raise awareness of engineering and science while giving hands-on experience.

“Engineering is going to be a major job creator in the North-East in the years to come.

“Many UK engineering firms say there is a skills shortage looming as people retire and not enough young people with the required skills are coming forward to fill those gaps.

“Part of the problem appears to be the perception among many young people of what engineering is.

“The aim of events such as this is to give them a better understanding of what engineering involves and what a stimulating, exciting career the sector can provide.”

The hovercraft event is the latest in a series of activities run by Foundation for Jobs and supported by engineering firms.

A Low-Carbon Engineering event saw 100 young people from Darlington secondary schools perform computeraided design tasks with Cummins Engines, make a basic electric car battery with Nissan and Gateshead College, wire a turbine with South West Durham Training and design a wind farm with the Banks Group.

At a bridge-building challenge, delivered by the Institution of Civil Engineers and hosted by Darlington College, 240 pupils from every secondary school and a primary school in Darlington, as well as many of the college’s engineering students, had a firsthand experience of building a 14-metre-high suspension bridge they could then walk across.

In a separate event, national award-winning former engineering apprentice James Watmore and his 18-year-old colleague apprentice welder Libby Johnson, from Darchem Engineering, gave 250 young people at a Darlington school an insight into apprenticeships.

For more information on the work of Foundation for Jobs, visit northernecho.co.

uk/news/ campaigns/founda tionfor jobs/