YOUNGSTERS on Tyneside are engineering a bright future for themselves, with support from local manufacturers and Training & Development Resource (TDR).

More than 100 pupils from eight schools across Tyneside are taking part in the new TDR programme called Tomorrow's Engineers, which encourages and supports youngsters considering engineering as a career.

Team Valley-based TDR has matched year ten and 11 students with engineering and manufacturing companies in Tyneside on a two-year programme which includes an enhanced work placement of two weeks and ongoing support from a company engineer on curriculum related projects.

Carly Richards is one of 12 students from Sacred Heart School in Fenham, Newcastle, to take part in the Tomorrow's Engineers programme. She is studying for GCSEs, including dual science and design technology.

She said: "I really enjoy design technology and wanted to find out how I could apply it in the workplace. The Tomorrow's Engineers programme has given me an opportunity to do that."

Carly, 14, is working with Myson Training, which is attached to the Myson manufacturing plant in Team Valley.

Other students from Sacred Heart School are working with Express Engineering and Michell Bearings.

Myson Training recognises the benefits of working with young people and has forged strong links with local schools and education projects over the past ten years. Training manager Ian Clark said: "Young people are the lifeblood of our industry, without them we have no future. That's why we believe it is so important to support TDR and the Tomorrow's Engineers programme."

Carly and her fellow students recently spent a week at Myson Training, discovering how the business works and completing their first practical project, making hanging baskets.

Companies and schools interested in taking part in the programme should contact Gareth Pritchard on 0191-491 1505.