Jonathan paints the town bronze
Apprentice car painter Jonathan Lloyd, from Newtownabbey, has scooped a bronze medal at the WorldSkills competition in Japan.
WorldSkills is a gruelling four day event, held every two years, in which 49 nations compete in skills such as engineering, landscape gardening, graphic design, hairdressing and beauty therapy and which this year saw over 200,000 spectators turn out in support.
Jonathan was part of the UK World Skills team, made up of 22 highly talented young people. In total the team won four medals (one gold, one silver and two bronze) and nine medallions of excellence at WorldSkills 2007, the biggest skills based competition in the world. This year’s team score placed the UK 11th in the world overall and fourth in Europe, improving the UK’s position in the team league table by one place from 2005.
Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, congratulated Jonathan on his global achievement and added: “WorldSkills is about raising the status and the standards of professional and technical education. What Jonathan has done epitomises that. Forty-nine nations competedhighlighting how essential these skills are globally. I would like to add my congratulations to Jonathan on this magnificent achievement.”
Jimmy Spratt, MLA, deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Employment and Learning, who attended the competition on behalf of the Committee, also congratulated Jonathan on his success: “The standard of professional and technical skills that I witnessed on display in Japan was extremely high and Jonathan is entitled to be very proud of what he has achieved. Skills matter to Northern Ireland businesses and the economy and Jonathan’s achievement proves that we have skills at a world class level.”
The Chairperson of the Committee for Employment and Learning, Sue Ramsey, MLA, will be writing on behalf of the Committee to congratulate Jonathan.
Jonathan and the rest of the team will now spend time in Shanghai for a de-brief and review on how the competition went before returning home to the UK. Preparation will then start to secure a new team to take part in WorldSkills 2009 in Canada and WorldSkills 2011, when London will host the event.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The WorldSkills Competition is the biggest skills competition in the world and is held every two years in one of its member countries. It sets world class standards in over 40 skill categories ranging from cabinet making to web design
Over four days of tough competition, young people drawn from 49 member nations test themselves against tough international standards. The ultimate prizes are gold, silver and bronze medals. Medallions of Excellence are also awarded to those young people who achieve or exceed the World Class score of 500 points out of a maximum of 600.
Locations of previous and future WorldSkills competitions and the UK results for these:
2003: St. Gallen, Switzerland (where the UK finished in 15th place)
2005: Helsinki, Finland (where the UK finished in 12th place)
2007: Shizuoka, Japan (where the UK has now finished in 11th place)
2009: Calgary, Canada
2011: London, UK
2. The UK WorldSkills team is managed by UK Skills working in partnership with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and key partners from education, government and industry.
3. Supporters of the 2007 team include: City & Guilds; the Learning and Skills Council; the Quality Improvement Agency; Honda, L’Oréal Professionnel; Snickers Workwear and Brathay.
4. To find out more about the team’s success or to learn more about how you can take part in the next competition visit www.worldskillsuk.org .
5. Media queries contact the Department for Employment and Learning Press Office on 028 9025 7872. Out of hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715440 and your call will be returned.