SOUTH West College trainees Kevin Harte and Trevor Woods enjoyed recent success in the Northern Ireland Skillbuild Competition and are now in a group of eight construction apprentices from the North competing in the Skillbuild national finals at South Birmingham College which ends tomorrow (October 12). The students are representing Northern Ireland at this prestigious competition against 100 other regional winners in trade areas of brickwork, carpentry, joinery, painting and decorating, plastering, roof slating and tiling and wall and floor tiling.

Founded in 1981, Skillbuild promotes excellence amongst young craftspeople in the UK. All students qualified for the finals via a selection process held earlier this year and gold medal winners at these finals are invited to participate in the selection for WorldSkills 2009 in Calgary, Canada.

Skillbuild has the support of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the Department for Employment and Learning, Association of Northern Ireland Colleges, and major sponsors such as Haldane Fisher, Acheson and Glover and British Gypsum. Another major sponsor Snickers Workwear has provided the clothing for the Skillbuild NI team to send them on their way. Snickers Workwear is a global partner of Worldskills International.

CITB chief executive Allan McMullen said, "It is a fantastic achievement that these young apprentices are competing at such a high level. They are already winners in their own right and we wish them every success at the national finals. Through skills competitions we have the opportunity not only to demonstrate the high levels of skills that young people can achieve, but also continue to improve the standards of young apprentices across all construction crafts for the future benefits of the industry."