An apprentice carpenter from West Suffolk College made it to the final stages of a national skills competition but just missed out on top honours.
18 year old Danny Featherstone from Braiseworth near Eye flew through the regional heats of an event called SkillBuild earlier this year.
Thanks to his efforts, he then went head to head with six other UK based construction trainees during an occasion that was held at the National Construction College based in Bircham Newton, Norfolk last month.
Whilst the judges feedback was positive, Danny wasn’t chosen to progress through to the next stage of the contest on this occasion.
(Winners who are chosen can potentially end up representing their country in an event called WorldSkills that will take place in Shanghai next year).
However, Danny should be proud of his efforts according to construction lecturer, Brian Tunbridge. Brian said: “We normally choose level three apprentices to take part in SkillBuild. But Danny is currently studying on a level two qualification.
“Therefore, to get to the stage he did and to be so competitive shows what a talent he is. He has been a credit to himself, his workplace and the college.”
“The fact that West Suffolk College and our department is consistently getting to finals of national skills competitions, and having seen student’s progress to the finals of this event in previous years, shows the quality that we possess both in terms of the training that we offer and the learners who study with us.”
Danny – who works for Woodland Carpentry and Joinery based in Rickinghall – said: “I learnt so much being involved in this competition and this will definitely help me come back stronger next year.”
Earlier this year West Suffolk College became one of just a few colleges nationally to be granted partnership with the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence scheme, with the aim of transferring world-class expertise and knowledge to participating colleges.
As a result of this partnership, WorldSkills UK ‘high performance coaches’ will deliver 60 hours of sessions at the College over the next six months, working with staff and students to share their globally acquired knowledge to raise the bar for technical training and teaching standards.