A trainee from Abersychan has won through to the final of the competition to find Wales’ best up and coming painter and decorator.
19-year-old Dan Groves, a Level 2 Painting & Decorating student at Coleg Gwent’s Pontypool Campus, came out top in the south Wales heat of the Skills Competition Wales Painting & Decorating event held at Pembrokeshire College.
He will now go forward to the all-wales final which will be held at Coleg Sir Gar on 27 March.
Backed by the Welsh Government through the European Social Fund, Skills Competition Wales promotes the importance of developing a highly skilled workforce.
Dan, who is an Apprentice at Pontypool-based Melin Homes, was up against 12 other competitors from colleges and training providers across south Wales. Their brief was as precise as one they would expect when working for a client, putting to the test their eye for detail. Dan had to use a range of techniques including painting, papering and rag rolling, as well as demonstrating specialised skills to create circles, borders and stencilling. Competitors were judged on their measuring and precision skills, as well as the overall aesthetics of the finished project.
Dan was shocked when he was awarded first place: “I wasn’t expecting to win so when they announced third and second places, I never imagined my name would be next! It’s a great feeling to have your work recognised at this level, and the competition was a good opportunity to benchmark your skills against others in the trade.
“Having to work under pressure to a tight brief was very much like the situations we face in the workplace which is great practice and good preparation for the future.”
Dan’s lecturer Matthew Shearman is over the moon that Dan has made it to the final: “Dan demonstrated excellent skills in the competition and he worked well in a pressured environment, for which he was rewarded with first place. We wish him the best of luck in the all-Wales finals later this month.”
Skills Competition Wales aims to find Wales’ most talented trainees across a wide range of skills, including fields such as painting and decorating, automotive engineering, aerospace, construction skills, catering, accountancy, media, and information technology.
It involves colleges, Sector Skills Councils and training providers running competitions across Wales.
