Apprentices’ chance to display their skills
Apr 8 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette
APPRENTICES from across the North-east will soon be battling it out to become this year’s best trainee tradesperson and flying the flag for the region in Britain’s biggest skills competition, SkillBuild.
Despite having 15 finalists at last year’s national final, North-east apprentices were pipped to the post by other UK regions for medal places. However, they now have the chance to compete against the other UK regions again and see if they can beat them and come out at the top of the SkillBuild medals table.
The South-east came out tops in 2008, winning three gold medals demonstrating first-class skills in their trades which included joinery, roofing and cabinet making.
The competition, which has been running for more than 20 years, is an opportunity to recognise the importance of apprentices and their skills. It also provides a platform for companies to highlight the quality of their workforce and commitment to training.
Entries have just opened for this year’s competition, which is free and easy to enter, so now is the time for companies of all sizes to be entering their most talented apprentices.
Russell Buckley apprenticeship manager for ConstructionSkills in the North-east said: “SkillBuild is a fantastic opportunity to encourage and recognise excellence, as well as help develop the future talent of the industry. SkillBuild celebrates apprenticeships, which are pivotal to generating a skilled workforce. Government is committed to seeing the number of apprenticeships increase significantly, with one in five young people taking them up by 2013.”
The regional heat for the North-east will take place on Wednesday July 1 at Newcastle College (CSA). The competition will culminate with the national final in October, which will take place in Scotland.
Dave Aston from Bellway Homes in Newcastle entered an apprentice in the competition last year. He said: “SkillBuild proved to be a fantastic opportunity for both my apprentice, Mark Noble, and for the company. Mark then went on to compete in the national final. It has really helped Mark develop his skills and the recognition of his high quality workmanship adds to our company’s reputation.”
Mark said: “I really enjoyed taking part in the SkillBuild final last year and being able to show just how skilled the workforce is in the North-east. I now have more confidence in my work and feel confident to take on jobs that I might not have done before.”
ConstructionSkills is keen to encourage as many budding young trades people as possible to enter the competition, particularly females. Last year there was only one female medal winner out of a possible 36 at the national final.
National winners from this year’s competition could be in with a chance of competing in the 2011 international WorldSkills competition. WorldSkills is held every two years, with this year’s competition being held in Calgary, Canada in September and then in London in 2011.
Visit www.cskills.org/skillbuild to find out more information about the competition and to download an entry form.
