Get involved in WorldSkills London 2011! by Will Torrent, Past Competitor

In October 2011 , a year before the 2012 Olympic Games, the prestigious WorldSkills Competition comes to London! WorldSkills is the biggest skills competition in the world and challenges teachers, trainers and young skilled men and woman to compete in over 40 different skills from over 50 different countries/regions and ultimately become the best in the field.

In 2007, when I was 21, I flew to Japan to represent the United Kingdom in the Pastry / Confectionery event. Not many people, other than maybe the Under 21 National Football team, get to say that they have represented their country at 21, and for me that was the instant hook when I was first introduced to WorldSkills by Yolande Stanley MCA. Yolande was my tutor at university and later became my Training Manager for WorldSkills. The training I received was the absolute best; I was lucky enough to go to France and train in some of the top places here in the UK such as Claridges, The Lanesborough and Gleneagles. The physical and mental training myself and the members of the Team got was also invaluable. We were treated like athletes, with physical exercise plans and diets to keep us at tip top condition to compete against the rest of the world. This training resulted in me becoming the highest placed British pastry chef at any WorldSkills competition so far and winning the first coveted Medallion of Excellence, beating France, Germany and Switzerland.

The whole of the UK needs to get behind London in 2012, but first we need your support in 2011 to make sure WorldSkills London 2011 is the best and biggest WorldSkills competition ever! You can support in many different ways and more information can be found worldskillslondon2011.com

Go out and spread the word! Tell people about WorldSkills and get people excited as much as I am about this brilliant competition coming to the capital a year before the Olympic Games in 2012!!

Jonathan Hurford-Potter, Finance Director, WorldSkills London 2011

Jonathan Hurford-Potter, Finance Director, WorldSkills London 2011 discusses what WorldSkills London 2011 means to him and his impressions of WorldSkills Calgary 2009:

WSL2011: What is your biggest challenge as Finance Director of WSL2011?

JHP: The event in London has a budget of £40M and the Government is currently funding around 25% of the costs. The balance needs to be obtained through Sponsorship and whilst not my area of responsibility, I am the recipient and custodian of the funds secured. I need to ensure both a balanced budget (cost and revenue) and more importantly keep a tight rein on cash flow to ensure that I can pay suppliers and staff salaries on time! Well someone has to do it!

WSL2011: What excites you most about being Finance Director of WorldSkills London 2011?

JHP: To be part of in International event and ensure along with the rest of the 2011 team that we deliver a superlative event to time, budget and quality standards. We are a fairly small dynamic team and it makes a huge change from my previous role working on a payroll system for the Armed Forces.

WSL2011: Having seen WSC2009, can you describe your impressions of a WorldSkills Competition for people who have not seen one before?

JHP: I just couldn't believe the scale of it! Just try to imagine a garage with around 30 identical cars on ramps being worked on simultaneously by competitors from all over the world. Then consider the same for landscape gardening, cooking, bricklaying, dressmaking etc. The opportunity to compare and contrast the progress of competitors and see the exceptional skills and talent in people so young is awesome.

WSL2011: If you were a competitor, which skill would you compete in?

JHP: I have a vested interest here. I own a 1965 Ford Anglia – light blue as featured in Harry Potter – and it is rather rusty. To compete in car painting and bodywork repair would enable me to restore my vehicle to an “as new” condition. Not sure my wife, Sarah, would agree though. She would prefer me to compete in jewellery and to take the Anglia to the Council recycling point or obtain £2,000 through the Government “scrapage” scheme!

WSL2011: If you could sum up in five words why WorldSkills London 2011 is important, what would you say?

JHP: Inspire young people to excel (in ExCeL!)

The WorldSkills Experience by Past Competitor, Harry Smith

For me the WorldSkills experience was an unforgettable one that started back in 2005. After winning the gold award for the WorldSkills UK national competition, I was introduced to WorldSkills and told of the opportunity to represent the UK on the world stage. It struck me what a fantastic and unique opportunity this was, I decided that day that I had be a part of it!

It took a couple of years of tough training and several competitions to get my skills up to scratch for WorldSkills. Throughout my training and development, my confidence grew along with my ability and I started to believe I could win a medal.

Arriving at the competition site for first time, I realised what an epic event WorldSkills was; the competition area was massive and the crowds just as big. However, my nerves settled as I started the competition and I got on with the job at hand.

Outside of the competition time I had an opportunity to see the whole site and all the other skills in action. It was awe-inspiring! The exceptional quality of work being demonstrated was inspirational and as a competitor, I wonder what the visitors must have thought!

Once the competition was over, it was time for the Closing Ceremony and just like the Opening Ceremony, it was a fantastic event and a celebration of everyone’s achievements. Throughout the ceremony, I had no idea of how I had done, but then they announced the result; I had won the silver medal! It was unbelievable; standing on the podium with the union jack over my back receiving my medal is the greatest moment of my life!

I don’t think WorldSkills is just about the medals though, competing at the event and being part of Team UK was reward enough for me. For me, it’s a celebration of vocational skills and an inspirational event for visitors, I’m proud to continue being a part of it.

Sarah Moss, Communications Director, UK Skills and WorldSkills 2011

In this post, we talk to Sarah Moss, the Communications Director for UK Skills and WorldSkills London 2011 about her role and her hopes for vocational skills.

WSL2011: What excites you most about being WorldSkills London 2011’s Communications Director?

SM: I think it is the opportunity to be part of a major international event and also to try to help people to understand the value of vocational skills.

WSL2011: What do you think will be your biggest challenge?

SM: Making a real difference in the time we have available will be a challenge - we need to pull all our resources together and find creative ways of informing people about WorldSkills.

WSL2011: London is a world class communications hub - will that make your job easier?

SM: (Laughing) I think it will make my job harder. It means there are very high expectations for what we can provide in terms of global media. We need to communicate clear messages to young people, but we are also reliant on WorldSkills Member countries/regions reinforcing the messages in their locality as well.

WSL2011: If you could sum up in 5 words why people should visit WorldSkills London 2011, what would you say?

SM: Hmmmm...because it is 'vocational talent at its best'.

WSL2011: Finally, if you were competing in a skill, what would it be?

SM: (Laughing) Probably Confectioner / Pastry Cook - I love the marzipan figurines they can create!

James Martin: Be part of WorldSkills London 2011

In this post, James Martin, Celebrity Chef, discusses why he supports skill competitions like WorldSkills London 2011.

“After being practically brought up in the kitchens at Castle Howard, I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a chef and pursue a vocational path. I spent three very happy years at Scarborough Technical College, learning my trade, from chopping to sauces. I had the good fortune to be spotted by Antony Worrall Thompson at this time, which helped me work in top London restaurants and also tour France, developing my skills in the kitchens of the Chateaux. When I returned, I was in a position to be able to open a restaurant in Winchester as Head Chef. I was 21 and I have never looked back.

As vocational skills and education have been such a force behind my success, I do my best to support them now. I have had the honour to be involved with WorldSkills for several years now, indeed one of the WorldSkills 2007 Competitors, Will Torrent, helped me out as my assistant on my 2007 programme ‘Sweet Baby James’. Will’s career since then has gone from strength to strength; he recently won Young Chef of the Year 2009 from the Craft Guild of Chef’s. I was impressed with him as a person, but also the skill, confidence and support he had drawn from being involved with both WorldSkills UK and the international WorldSkills Competition. Skills competitions are one of the best things you could be involved in as a young tradesperson and they have real ability to change lives. For those reasons, I would encourage anyone to find out more about WorldSkills London 2011 and become involved in skills competitions.”

Why are skills important?

Simon Bartley, CEO of UK Skills explains why vocational skills are important:

Hello, I’m Simon Bartley, CEO of UK Skills, of which WorldSkills London 2011 is a wholly owned subsidiary. In this post, I want to take the opportunity to explain why we are so passionate about skills here at 36 Queen Street.

Both national and international skills competitions offer significant benefits to all those involved. They develop young people’s confidence, as Oliver Clack, who represented the UK in Stonemasonry at WorldSkills Calgary 2009 explains“It is an honour to be among the top in the UK. The thought of it makes me so proud of myself.”

They also encourage young people to develop their skill base and therefore prepare them for future employment. These benefits are even more apparent in difficult economic times like today, when a highly skilled workforce is essential to compete in the global market place.

Through skills competitions, we can work together to lift standards of training and performance, promoting world class skills and international competitiveness. Faced with continued economic uncertainty, it is essential we don't give up on training and keep encouraging new talent. It's competitions like WorldSkills that already are and can continue to help us achieve this.