NATIONAL PLUMBING COMPETITION IN THE PIPELINE
A Gateshead College student has been given the honour of being the only student to represent the North East in a prestigious national plumbing competition.
Richard Keen, 18, is looking forward to demonstrating his winning pipework skills at the British Plumbing Employers’ Council (BPEC) Plumbing Skills Competition, which takes place on November 6, 7 and 8. He is the only entrant from the region, having outshone contenders from other North East colleges at the regional stage.
Richard, from Gateshead, is completing an NVQ Level Two Apprenticeship in Plumbing at Gateshead College. He works at Complete Bathrooms, based in Gateshead, for four days per week and attends college on the other day.
“I’m very excited about the competition and I’m really pleased about getting to the final,” said Richard, “I’ve done extremely well at the regional stages but the final will be a lot more challenging with more complex tests.”
Richard is travelling to Leicester College where he will be putting his plumbing skills to the test in the hope of walking away with the title of BPEC Young Plumber of the Year for Pipework.
Gateshead College lecturer, Jim Dawson, entered Richard in the competition because of his outstanding ability. He said: “Each college can nominate one student to take part, Richard was an obvious choice. He has only just started the second year of his apprenticeship but his work is of a very high standard, he is clearly incredibly talented with lots of potential.
“Richard did really well to be successful at the regional stage as he was up against third and fourth year students who had much more experience. He stands an extremely good chance in the final.”
The BPEC Plumbing Skills National Final 2006 will see nine regional finalists demonstrating their theoretical and practical abilities in the hope that they will be awarded the £950 first prize.
Richard has also been chosen to compete in Luton at the preliminaries for the WorldSkills Competition 2007 on November 16. If he succeeds, he will travel to Shizuoka in Japan next November to take part.
For further information on Gateshead College call 0191 490 2246, email start@gateshead.ac.uk or visit www.gateshead.ac.uk.
