All 26 young members of Team UK were honoured (9th
October) at a prestigious reception at City Hall, London, to
celebrate their fantastic achievements at WorldSkills Calgary 2009,
the skills equivalent of the Olympics. They were joined by
celebrity guest Matt Dawson MBE.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson also spoke at the reception
congratulating Team UK on their achievements.
WorldSkills is a totally unique event. Last month, in
front of over 150,000 spectators Team UK battled it out over four
days of tough competition. In total there were 900 young
people from 46 nations competing in skills ranging from
bricklaying, IT and engineering to floristry, hairdressing and
cooking. Team UK achieved the UK's best results yet - placing
the UK 7th in the World (four places up from the last
WorldSkills Competition in Shizuoka, Japan), winning a total of
three Gold medals, six Bronze medals and 14 Medallions For
Excellence, which are given to competitors who achieve at least 500
points, deemed the world class standard. Independent
education foundation Edge is the Premier Supporter of Squad and
Team UK, as part of its commitment to raising the status of
practical and vocational learning.
Former England Rugby player Matt Dawson MBE said: "Meeting Team
UK has been a great experience for me. I know personally how
much training and effort is needed to be the best of the best and
Team UK can all proudly say that they have achieved
this. There are lots of similarities between training
for a sport and training for WorldSkills and I hope that their
achievements will help show the country just how talented these
young men and women are and encourage other young people to get
involved. What they have proved is that it's well worth
it. I wish them every success in the future."
Simon Bartley, Chief Executive of UK Skills, who manage Team UK
said: "I had the honour of being able to see Team UK in action at
WorldSkills Calgary 2009 and what they achieved was nothing short
of amazing. The dedication the whole team put in before the
competition was outstanding and it has certainly paid off. We
couldn't be more proud of the team. They have deservedly
today been honoured for what they have achieved. I send my
congratulations to them all and hope that their hard work and
results inspire many more to take part in skill competitions and
indeed come and see the WorldSkills Competition in action
themselves when it is held in London in October 2011."
Skills Minister Kevin Brennan, said: "Team UK are among the most
highly skilled young people in the world. I'm so glad I was able to
meet these young men and women and see their great achievements
first-hand. Young people like this are key to the future of
our economy. They clearly demonstrate the benefits of investing in
training. Team UK should all be seen as fantastic role models
to other young people in our country."