Bradford apprentices reach national finals (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Bradford apprentices reach national finals
11:00am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News
By Dolores Cowburn, Bradford Chief Reporter
Joinery student Marcus Ducan gets in some skills training ahead of the Matchfit day tomorrow
Two apprentices have beaten off stiff competition from hundreds of their peers to make it to the national finals of a prestigious competition in front of a Dragon’s Den-style panel.
And if Bradford College apprentices John Holland, 22, and James Carroll, 21, win the competition, they will be crowned winners of the Higher Apprenticeship Construction and Built Environment Sustainabil-ity Skills Competition 2013 and win £1,500.
The final is on Friday at The Strand, London.
The pair are studying for a Higher Level Apprenticeship in Construction and Built Environment (Sustainabil-ity).
They will pitch their idea on re-using water in the home to industry chefs.
Mr Holland said: “Our project idea is to do with grey water, which is basically re-using water in the house for flushing toilets and other household needs.
“So basically it’s about trying to cut down water usage in the house so you can save on spending for water. On a bigger scale you can save the water companies money on the infrastructure.”
“It seemed like a golden opportunity. I was quite excited to have the chance to put myself forward and see how I can achieve against other colleges around the country and hopefully do very well. It’s not too important for me to win. I want to just make sure I put a good effort into it so I know that even if I don’t win, I’ve done my best. And if I do win, it will be pretty awesome.”
Meanwhile, students and apprentices will go head to head this week in the finals of Matchfit – a new Yorkshire and Humber initiative designed to showcase skills and talent.
Almost 200 competitors from colleges, schools and employers in the region will be at the college tomorrow (THUR) to battle it out across a range of skills areas – from beauty, brickwork and engineering to IT, business administration and travel and tourism.
It is the day of advanced finals day when a fifth of the competitors will be from the college itself. Bradford will also host the intermediate finals on May 23.
