Southern Regional College: Meet the students from around Portadown and Lurgan competing for SkillBuild glory

Contestants from across the college’s campuses competed against their peers to be in with the chance to make it to the regional competition on Tuesday, May 21 at South West College’s Enniskillen campus.

Categories participating in the SkillBuild competition included brickwork, cabinet making, carpentry, joinery, wall and floor tiling, painting and decorating, plastering, plumbing pipework, electrical installation, and light motor vehicle.

Success at the inter-campus competition is the first step towards competing on the WorldSkills stage. Successful competitors at SkillBuild will be benchmarked against competitors from Northern Ireland’s other further education colleges by the Construction Industry Training Board. The results will determine who will represent the region at national and international levels.

Local SRC students hoping to progress to the regional stage include:

First place:

Brickwork – Matthew Carswell, Gilford (L3 Bricklaying Apprenticeship).

Joinery – Ethan McKenna, Lurgan (L2 Carpentry & Joinery Apprenticeship).

Painting & Decorating – Richard Loughran, Magheralin (L2 Painting & Decorating Apprenticeship).

Electrical Installation – Adam Skelton, Portadown (L3 Electrotechnical (Electrical Installation) Apprenticeship).

Second place:

Cabinet Making – Jake Richardson, Scarva (L2 Carpentry & Joinery Apprenticeship).

Joinery – Taylor Crooks, Tandragee (L2 Carpentry & Joinery Apprenticeship).

Electrical Installation – Jonathan Gough, Waringstown (L3 Electrotechnical (Electrical Installation) Apprenticeship).

Third place:

Motor Vehicle Light – Brody Duffy, Portadown (L2 Light Vehicle Traineeship).

Rachel Dorovatas, Director of Industry Training & Support at CITB NI, attended the competition and praised the participants for their high standards of skills.

Rachel commented: “We are continuously impressed by the standard of skills demonstrated by the apprentices and trainees who participate in the Inter Campus College Competitions. Congratulations are extended to all participants with special recognition for those who excelled in their categories. Their outstanding performance may pave the way for them to further showcase their talents at the upcoming SkillBuild NI Regional Competition in Enniskillen this May.”

Gareth Mone, Curriculum Area Manager at Southern Regional College added: “Our Inter campus SkillBuild competition involved over 80 competitors across construction, motor vehicle, body & paint, and welding trades. We welcomed visitors from CITB NI and judges to our Greenbank Campus. Again, the standard of work was extremely high, and we hope to have many of our students progressing to the regional finals in May.”