Four young Scots take with them the best wishes of the nation as they set off for Budapest as part of Team UK in Europe’s most prestigious skills competition.
Mark Scott and Nicolle Finnie, representing City of Glasgow College, together with Ross Megahy from New College Lanarkshire, and Callum Bonner of Forth Valley College, fly out this Sunday for EuroSkills 2018.
Paul Little, Lead Ambassador for WorldSkills in Scotland, and Principal and Chief Executive of City of Glasgow College, said: “Having four Scottish competitors representing Team UK at Europe’s leading skills competition, including two from our Super College is an outstanding achievement, and one which has been supported by a message of congratulations from 24 MSPs at Holyrood. These young people have all worked incredibly hard to reach the finals and I am personally looking forward to cheering on Mark, Nicolle, Ross and Callum over the three days.
“I have said continually that WorldSkills matter for the productivity of our economy, for social mobility, and to offer better employability prospects for our students. I firmly believe that taking part in these intense competitions helps prepare students to be the best in their chosen careers. These are in essence the Olympic Games of Skills. They enable employers not only to benchmark their apprenticeship and training programmes, but us as educators to raise technical proficiency across the whole of the UK.”
Martin McGuire, Principal and Chief Executive of New College Lanarkshire, said: “Since bringing home a gold medal from the WorldSkills UK finals in Birmingham in November 2016, we’ve known that Ross is a great ambassador for New College Lanarkshire, and now he’s getting the chance to showcase his skills on an international stage.
“We are incredibly proud of his achievements and grateful to the staff who have continued to coach Ross on a very intensive basis in the weeks leading up to EuroSkills.
“Everyone at New College Lanarkshire wishes Ross the very best of luck as he follows in the footsteps of past Mechanical Engineering: CAD students including Betsy Crosbie, Andrew Beel and Ryan Sheridan who all brought home accolades from previous EuroSkills competitions.”
Dr Ken Thomson, Principal of Forth Valley College, said: “We would like to wish all four Scottish team members, and the entire Team UK, all the best as they travel out to the EuroSkills 2018 event in Budapest. They are all competing at the highest level possible in their professions and should be very proud of their achievements. I know everyone at Forth Valley College has been following the progress of Callum closely over the last 18 months or so, and we will be cheering him on as he competes next week. Good luck to them all.”
The students will compete in their chosen disciplines over the course of three days from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 September. City of Glasgow College’s Nicolle Finnie competes in cooking and Mark Scott, who took gold at last year’s UK Skills Show National Finals, flies the flag in wall and floor tiling for the College.
Ross Megahy from New College Lanarkshire is taking part in Mechanical Engineering CAD, the category which secured the college a Medallion of Excellence in 2016; while Callum Bonner of Forth Valley College goes head to head in painting and decorating.
Team UK will be hoping to improve on the seventh place secured at the previous EuroSkills final in Gothenburg in 2016. The competition - in Hungary’s capital, Budapest - begins with the opening ceremony on Tuesday evening. U to 28 countries and 600 competitors from all over Europe are expected to take part in over 30 skills with an estimated 80,000 spectators attending.