Celebrities have been sharing their childhood dream jobs with workplace learning charity, the Campaign for Learning, to help them promote its National Learning at Work Day competition.

The charity hopes that, by hearing what the stars dreamed of doing as children, individuals will enter a competition to win a day in their own childhood dream job as well as inspiring them to think about their own current careers and what they may need to achieve them.

While actress Tamzin Outhwaite has been lucky enough to get close to living her childhood dream of being a dancer, othes show that they have moved well away from their childhood fantasies. The Office and Extras star Ricky Gervais, for instance, dreamed not of making people laugh, but of being a scientist when he young. This Morning star, Fern Britton, always wanted to be a dolphin trainer and Olympic medal winner Darren Campbell had another dream along with sporting glory and that was to be lawyer.

Linda Siegle, joint chief executive at the Campaign for Learning (who wanted to be a dress designer and did fulfill that dream for a brief period) said: "As children we all dream about the job we want to do when we grow up but a lack of confidence, support, qualifications or opportunities can hold us back. It is never too late to break down these barriers.

"We are running the Childhood Dream Job Competition to promote the difference learning and development can have on job prospects and working lives, as well as to inspire individuals to follow their career dreams, whether that’s a promotion, a whole new direction or simply learning how to make current jobs more satisfying."

The Childhood Dream Job Competition runs until 21 May 2007 at www.learningatworkday.com. Three winners will be selected at random for Learning at Work Day, Thursday 24 May 2007.