MANUFACTURING has a bad image. Ask anyone what they associate with it and they'll probably say dirt, repetition and boredom.

But as with all images, it does not quite tell the whole story, nor take account of the wide variety of activities within the sector.

The South London Training and Enterprise Council (SOLOTEC) recognises the manufacturing sector as the biggest employer in south east London. There are more than 1,000 companies in the sector in the area and SOLOTEC has teamed up with the University of Greenwich to launch an initiative to promote manufacturing careers among younger children.

This month, the London Children's University will be showing 525 nine to 13-year-olds from Greenwich, Lewisham and Bexley what modern manufacturing is really about. By giving them a classroom introduction to areas such as, among others, printing, radio and furniture-making, the youngsters will learn how interesting and creative making things can be.

And they will all be taken on tours of plants and factories to see how what they have been learning about is done on an industrial scale.

Spokesman for the school Linden Gamble said: "The idea is to make kids think of jobs in this sector. We are linking it in with a wider programme of awareness raising in schools.

"We hope that we will be able to extend the scheme in the future to cover older age groups and create a more comprehensive programme for young people."

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