WorldSkills Selection event hosted at Dundee and Angus College

This has been set up for the WorldSkills selection stage in the category of painting and decorating. Individuals from throughout the country have competed at regional and national WorldSkills competitions with the top competitors being given the opportunity to come to Dundee and Angus College where they have the chance to be selected as Team GB’s representative in upcoming tournaments. They come to Scotland to be trained by Dundee and Angus College’s Mike Swan who also acts as WorldSkills Europe Deputy Chief Expert.

The candidates that came to Dundee were competing between one another to be the chosen individual that represents Team GB in EuroSkills 2023 in Gdansk Poland in September in the painting and decorating category. The two individuals that took part in the selection process at D&A College were Hatti Parnham from North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College and Didr Regan from Lincoln College.

Unfortunately, Mike was not able to be present meaning Peter Walters MBE from Stoke on Trent, and High-Performance Skills coach for WorldSkills UK stood in for Mike and delivered the training. Both candidates came to Dundee and Angus College to receive expert painting and decorating training through the WorldSkills training programme. They both went through intensive training in order to achieve a world standard and to be the one selected to go to Gdansk.

Hatti shared, “WorldSkills is amazing, doing completely different things and it has helped me progress as a person, it has taught me so much and opens up so many opportunities.”

Didr said, “I have taken part in the regional and national stages in previous years but this is the furthest I’ve ever got, I suppose it’s like a dream I never knew I wanted.”