A London-wide children’s competition is asking children to use their imaginations to draw a picture or write a story that focuses on how women at TfL keep London moving.

From the engineers who fix and control traffic lights and keep the trains running, to the designers who imagine what our streets, bridges and trains will look like in the future – there are a range of different roles to inspire the next generation.

The contest is organised by Transport for London (TfL) with British book printing institution Clays as part of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s campaign, #BehindEveryGreatCity.

It is open to here categories of children aged five to seven, seven to 11 and 11 to 14.

The judging panel of acclaimed authors includes Waterstones’ Children’s Laureate, Lauren Child MBE, How to Train your Dragon author Cressida Cowell and Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World writer, Kate Pankhurst.

They will choose the winning entries, which need to be submitted before May 13.

Lauren Child MBE says: “As well as encouraging children to draw and write, competitions like this are a great opportunity to break down stereotypes.

“It is important for all children to see themselves reflected in stories and books and to have heroes they can relate to. Celebrating brave, accomplished women who get things done is a step away from an outdated notion of girls just being the side-kick.”

The winners will see their stories turned into a limited edition book, printed by Clays, with the winning drawing featured on the front cover.

They will also get the opportunity to take part in a behind-the-scenes tour of TfL and visit the factory where the book is made.

The Mayor of London’s #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign aims to bring Londoners together to celebrate how women of all backgrounds make London the great city it is, and to take new steps to tackle gender inequality in the capital.

Kate Pankhurst comments: “I’m thrilled to be judging this competition and can’t wait to see the inspiring stories children have to share about the part women play in keeping London moving.

“It seemed a particularly exciting competition to judge as celebrating the role women play in getting people where they need to go is a great way to get children to take a closer look at the way we live today and at how they have the power to shape it with their talents and aspirations in the future.”

The competition is part of a wider drive in the transport industry to encourage more women to consider a career in transport and more young people into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Currently, around 23 per cent of TfL’s workforce is female and only nine per cent of engineers are women.

Details: tfl.gov.uk/women-in-transport-competition