On Friday 17th November, Ethan, Matt & Rhys took part in the WorldSkills UK finals held in Manchester, as part of Team Wales. They were competing against other young people from all over the UK, all having progressed from regional qualifying events.
Ethan and Matt competed in the Catering competition - creating street food dishes, whilst Rhys competed in the horticulture competition, (in which he won Gold in the regional event) - selecting and planting a variety of plants and shrubs in an area themed 'winter'.
They have all been practising hard for weeks, with both learners and staff having tremendous help from The Telegraph Garden centre in Llangadog, and The Castle Hotel in Llandovery. We would like to thank them both for their support and encouragement.
Our neighbour Wyn Jones, (Welsh Rugby Union player, former British Lion and Scarlets prop) stopped by ECT in the run up to the competition, to present the learners with their Team Wales hoodies and inspire them when representing their country. Wyn encouraged the trio to remember everything they had learnt during training, and to enjoy every minute of representing Wales during the competitions.
Onto the finals where they all faced stiff competition from their fellow competitors. In the kitchen both Ethan, and Matt, excelled making their street food dishes. The judges it seemed having a very difficult choice to make, eventually awarded SILVER medals to them both. Wow! Joint second! What an achievement!
More success was to come for our team as over in the horticulture competition Rhys, again up against some very talented competitors, followed up his Gold medal in the regional event by winning GOLD! A truly outstanding achievement!
All three of them, along with their support team and family members then attended the awards ceremony where they were each presented with certificates and of course, their medals. Suffice to say that everyone here at Elidyr Communities Trust are immensely proud of their hard work and attitude during the competition process, and of the rewards they so richly deserve.
Well done, Ethan, Matt, and Rhys! Congratulations!