Salford Apprentices Win Regional Heat Of Britain's Biggest Skills Competition
11 May 2010
Salford City College students, Nathan Fraser and Jack Revans have proved they are the best in the North West by winning the Bricklaying and Painting and Decorating categories at the regional heat of Britain’s biggest construction skills competition - SkillBuild 2010, held at Salford City College.
19 year old Nathan Fraser said: “I really enjoyed the SkillBuild heat and hope to be able to show I’m the best in the country at the national final in Wales this September.”
“The regional heat was quite challenging as there was a lot to do, but it covered all the skills that I use on a daily basis. It was fantastic to see all the different trades competing together and to meet all the other competitors. If I’m lucky enough to secure a place at the national final, my skills will be put to the test even more as there will no doubt be some really strong competitors taking part from across the UK.”
The regional heats for SkillBuild 2010, run by ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry, have been taking place across the country since mid-April and will culminate in a national final on 8 – 10 September 2010 at Coleg Menai, Wales.
Also present at the regional heat were students from the Horticulture deparment of the Eccles Centre, who gave hands-on demonstrations to guests and visitors throughout the day, including the Mayor and Mayoress of Salford, and also had plants and herbs on sale to all at the competition.
Nathan and Jack are two of the eight talented apprentices from the North West who won in their category at the regional heat on Thursday 29th April The top scoring winners from across the country will be selected to go on to the final once all the regional heats have been completed in June.
The national final will put trainees through their paces in competitions for their main construction trade, with categories including bricklaying, cabinet making, carpentry, drywall systems, joinery, painting & decorating, plastering, stonemasonry, roof slating & tiling, roof sheeting & cladding, built up felt roofing, and wall & floor tiling.
Graham Pennington, Senior Vice Principal at Salford City College said: “We are very proud of Nathan and Jack, who have both done incredibly well in this competition. This success is a testament to their ability and dedication, and to the importance of the vocational training and skills taught at the college.”
Gwen Caddick, Regional Strategy Adviser for ConstructionSkills in the North West said: “It is great to see the new generation of construction workers from the North West demonstrate the immense talent we have in the industry. All the competitors, including Nathan and Jack, are an excellent example of the benefits and skills a trainee can bring to a company. This not only provides a competitive edge for construction companies in the current challenging economic environment, it also ensures that industry has the right skills in place for the upturn and beyond.”
Jack Revans concluded: “I would definitely recommend entering the competition; it has been hard work but very rewarding and such a worthwhile experience. It is a great opportunity to test your existing skills whilst learning new ones.”
SkillBuild is part of the WorldSkills UK competition framework, which is a series of around 70 quality assured skills competitions which take place in a diverse range of sectors from built environment to cultural and creative arts.
Outstanding competitors from this year’s competition could potentially be selected to represent the UK at the next international WorldSkills competition when it comes to ExCeL in London on 5-8 October 2011.
Main sponsors for this year’s SkillBuild include British Gypsum, Crown, Stabila and Trend.
To find out more about the SkillBuild competition, please visit www.cskills.org/skillbuild