WorldSkills London 2011 will kick off this week, bringing together 1,000 Competitors under the age of 25 from over 50 countries to compete in 46 separate skills competitions at London ExCeL.
The biennial competition will see young people compete for medals in categories, including automotive, health, public services and care, agriculture, horticulture and animal care, construction and retail, commercial enterprise and information and communications technology.
Representing the engineering and manufacturing technologies category, Honda Technician, John Couldridge (22), who graduated from the company’s apprentice programme in 2009, will take part in this year’s event, competing within the ‘Automobile Technology’ skills category. It has taken him three years to prepare for the challenge, during which he successfully outshone 1,500 other young hopefuls from many other automotive manufacturers and independent garages, in order to win a place on Team UK.
Speaking about taking part in this year’s event, John said, “I cannot believe what I’ve achieved – I’ve lived, breathed and slept this for three years and now it is only days away. It is a dream come true to represent my country in this prestigious event.”
Team UK Ambassador and Gold Olympic Medallist, Jason Gardener, CBE, was last week on hand to offer competitors some training tips and advice ahead of taking part.
“Representing your country on the world stage is an incredibly daunting task,” said Jason. “Each member of Team UK has put in the same amount of training and dedication as any athlete taking part in a sporting competition and I hope that the whole of the UK gets behind them for WorldSkills London 2011 like they would for any big sports event.”
WorldSkills London 2011 will take place from 5-8 October and 2011 will be the 41st Competition. The UK previously hosted the WorldSkills Competition in 1965 in Glasgow, and in 1989 in Birmingham. The four-day long competition will be watched by 150,000 visitors and is free to attend. There will also be the opportunity to talk to a range of experts about future career options and opportunities. To attend, click here.
