Southern Regional College (SRC) students were recently presented with the SRC Ambassador Award from the College’s Chief Executive, Brian Doran and the Chair of the Governing Body, Andrew Saunders, in recognition of their success in the recent WorldSkills UK event held in the NEC in Birmingham.
The College’s 19 participants were competing in the prestigious event against the very best talent across the UK. This annual event is the UK’s largest elite skills and careers competition covering a range of professional disciplines from plumbing to catering and beauty therapy to tiling. It attracts over 70,000 visitors to the NEC arena over three days of intensive competition with many of those participants being selected to compete at the WorldSkills event in Shanghai in 2021.
The SRC team participated in a total of 12 areas including CNC Milling, Automation, IT Technical, Laboratory Science as well as Culinary Arts, Bricklaying and Plumbing. The College had the largest number of participants from Northern Ireland and once again was placed in the top three in the UK medals table securing 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze medals in Floor and Wall Tiling, Beauty Therapy, Beauty Therapy Practitioner and Culinary Arts. This is the third successful year in which the College was the best performing college in Northern Ireland and placed in the top three training providers across the UK. To crown this success, 8 of the College’s students have now been selected for the WorldSkills UK squad preparing them to compete in Shanghai in 2021.
Andrew Saunders, Chair of the SRC Governing Body, presented the SRC Ambassador Awards to each of the competitors and said “We are absolutely delighted to present each of our WorldSkills competitors with a SRC Ambassador Award in recognition of their excellence, commitment and dedication to their skill area. We are proud of each and every one of our students as they have pitched their skills against the very best UK performers to bring home a very impressive medal haul. As SRC Ambassadors, these students are model examples to their peers as they are testament to what hard work, dedication and commitment can lead to.”
Speaking at the SRC Ambassador Awards ceremony, Brian Doran, Chief Executive at Southern Regional College, said “I want to thank most sincerely our staff members who gave their time to support the students and without whom, this success would not have been possible. I am sure everyone across the College would wish to join me in congratulating our staff and SRC Ambassadors they are simply the best of the best.”
SRC WorldSkills UK Medal Winners
Gold Medal Winners
Shelby Jones from Portadown – Beauty Therapy
Dylan Calvert from Tandragee - Floor & Wall Tiling
Silver Medal Winners
Shannon Fearon from Blackwatertown - Beauty Therapy
Kirsty Frazer from Newtownhamilton - Beauty Therapy Practitioner
Dylan Gillanders from Armagh - Floor and Wall Tiling
Bronze Medal Winners
Steven Megaw from Newry - Culinary Arts
Aaron Gillespie from Armagh - Floor & Wall Tiling
