Fourth year painting and decorating Modern Apprentice (MA) Callum Bonner has become the first ever Forth Valley College student to make Team UK for the EuroSkills 2018 in Budapest.
Callum (20) from Tullibody – an MA with Clackmannanshire Council – had previously competed with eight others at the prestigious SkillBuild Show, at Birmingham’s NEC back in November 2017. He just missed out on a top three place, but impressed judges so much that he was invited onto the WorldSkills UK training team.
Over the last six months he has taken part in special training sessions in England with other MAs to see if he can win selection to the UK team for the WorldSkills finals to be held in Kazan, Russia in 2019. He was invited to attend a pressure test competition in Budapest in April to assess his suitability and it has led to him being selected for the EuroSkills team for the event in September – which will also be held in the Hungarian capital - as an added bonus.
Callum is now looking forward to joining his teammates at the Team UK EuroSkills Bootcamp at Reaseheath College, Nantwich, Cheshire on 20-21 July.
Team UK – which heads to the EuroSkills Finals in Budapest from 26 to 28 September – will comprise of 22 elite competitors skilled in a broad spectrum of disciplines from engineering to construction, digital to creative.
Callum, said: “It is brilliant to have been selected. It has been some experience and all the hard work is paying off. I am looking forward to the EuroSkills final and will be the only painter and decorator to represent the UK at the event. I have to say I am very proud of myself.
“Thanks to the Training Managers at WorldSkills UK, College Lecturers at Forth Valley College, Managers at Clackmannanshire Council, my Training Officer Audrey Munro and my parents for all the support that they have given me throughout this process.”
Kevin Bonner, Painting and Decorating Lecturer in the Department of Construction at Forth Valley College, said: “We are all very proud of Callum and for him to make EuroSkills team is an excellent result. As far as I know he is the first Forth Valley College MA to reach this level and he will no doubt become an inspiration for others to follow.”
Ian Morrison, Head of FVC’s Department of Construction, said: “Callum has done extremely well and we wish him all the best in the EuroSkills competition. It is the first time a Forth Valley College student has reached this level of competition and we are so proud of the fact that one of our painting and decorating MAs is representing the UK in this discipline at the event.”
Cllr Craig Holden, spokesperson for Housing & Environment at Clackmannanshire Council, said: “As one of our talented Modern Apprentices, everyone at the Council is delighted at Callum’s great success. It’s really satisfying to see our Council apprentices reaching such high standards in their training journey with us, and we look forward to seeing Callum’s continued progress in his career.”