A scheme to help teenage mums get into work is being launched in Barking and Dagenham.

My Mummies Future will allow 30 women aged between 16 and 19 to gain opportunities within the health and beauty sector.

Elsie Akinloluwa, the project’s office manager, said the scheme is necessary as teenage pregnancy in the borough is among the highest in London.

“We are working to empower young mothers who may feel like they have been left without any prospects and give them a taste of getting into training or education,” she said. “We want to show them that they don’t have to sit at home and do nothing but take benefits.”

Free day care will be available during the nine week workshop which has been paid for by Big Lottery funding.

The first 15 students will begin the scheme on March 7 in a venue which is yet to be confirmed.

For more information, visit www.mymummiesfuture.org.uk or call 020 3288 2225.