Construction apprentices put their skills to the test

NRC is celebrating the success of four trainees in the competition. Aidan Glass who was awarded a gold medal and Joel Lamont a bronze medal in the Brickwork category. Further success was achieved at the Ballymena Campus with the top accolade in the Lead Sheetwork category awarded to Neil Lavery and the bronze medal to Nathaniel McAllister for Industrial Heating.

Skillbuild NI is held annually each spring, with the top local construction apprentices competing to win coveted titles in 12 different construction craft areas ranging from brickwork to wall and floor tiling. The winners may then go on to represent Northern Ireland in the UK Skillbuild Finals and potentially the UK at WorldSkills.

The Skillbuild NI competition not only encourages trainees to improve their own skills, but provides an example of the high quality work being produced in training organisations and colleges across NI. The Skillbuild test pieces are designed to challenge the ability of apprentices, testing skills within tight timeframes and the competitors are being continuously assessed throughout the 2 day competition.

The competition has the support of local construction employers who sponsor each category and has the overall support from CITB-ConstructionSkills NI, Construction Employers Federation, Department for Employment and Learning, Haldane Fisher, Snickers Workwear and Colleges NI.

Commending the competitors on their hard work and dedication shown in their area of expertise, Catherine Bell, Deputy Secretary for the Department for Employment and Learning said:

“Skills competitions help to encourage excellence and raise standards of training.  With the recent success of Northern Ireland competitors at WorldSkills London, the quality of our professional and technical training is recognised worldwide. The Skillbuild NI competition allows our young apprentices to demonstrate that they have the high level of skills which our economy needs to stay competitive.”

David Cooper, Chairman of Skillbuild NI, said: “The Skillbuild NI national competition is a superb event which enables participants to benchmark themselves against their fellow competitors in NI. The next WorldSkills event is to be held in Leipzig in Germany in the summer of 2013 and we are hopeful we can achieve the same outstanding result that NI competitors achieved in 2011. We had the best medal haul of all the UK regions, with a gold medal in bricklaying, silver in landscape gardening and a bronze in Refrigeration & air-conditioning. Two out of the three WorldSkills medal winners progressed to this stage via Skillbuild NI which first showed their potential of talent within their trade”

Trevor Neilands, Director /Chief Executive of NRC added, “The College is committed to supporting Skillbuild and we were delighted that four of our trainees had success at the competition. It provided them with the opportunity to showcase their skills.  This competition demonstrates the excellence in construction skills training at the College and I wish the winners every success as they go on to represent Northern Ireland in the UK and further afield.   Their success is a credit to the lecturers and employers who have been supporting them in advance of the intense competition.”