The semi-final of this prestigious event, delivered by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), took place at RHS Tatton Park, 22-24 July, at which ten competitors were tasked with constructing one segment of a garden measuring 7m x 1.5m wide, which included a variety of hard landscaping and planting schemes, to form one complete garden of 7m x 15m wide overall size.
A selection of Makita power tools, including random orbit sanders, jigsaws, disc cutters, mitre saws, laser levels and appropriate accessories, have been supplied to the UK Landscape Gardening training experts, Harry Turner and his team, at Askham Bryan College, York, a specialist landbased college, for the benefit of training the competitors. Harry’s team includes Darren Thomson, joiner and builder; Simon Abbott, past competitor and silver medallist in 2001; Nigel Harrison, plantsman; Jodi Lidgard, plantsman; Gregory Turner, set up and take down team coordinator and Mrs Denise Turner, event administrator.
Those going forward to the final, which will be held at the UK’s biggest skills and careers event: The Skills Show, 14-16 November, at the NEC Birmingham, include:
Dan Brennan, 21, Derby College, Ilkeston, Derbyshire
Adam Ferguson, 17, CAFRE, Greenmount College, County Antrim
Andrew Hannam, 25, Sparsholt College, Hampshire
Dan Hartley, 19, Sparsholt College, Hampshire
Theo Parkin, 24, Derby College, Ilkeston, Derbyshire
Noel Taggert, 17, CAFRE, Greenmount College, County Antrim
Harry Turner and his team will hold further training sessions for the six finalists in the lead up to the Skills Show, and Makita hope to host the apprentices on a separate training event at Makita’s HQ in Milton Keynes. The company has a series of indoor and outdoor workshops attended by full time trainers who deliver training and safe use courses for novices and professionals throughout the year. At the Skills Show finalists will work in two-man teams but may not be partnered with their own fellow college team mate; they will however know who they will partner prior to the Show.
“My aim is to raise the standard of the national events in preparing contestants for the 43rd WorldSkills international event,” says Harry Turner, main competition expert and organiser, “which will be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2015. It seems a long way off but the training required to ensure that a Landscape Gardening team is selected for the GB squad is intensive. The sooner we start the better our chances of selection.”
