Crawley College students claim trio of awards at regional competition

Crawley College scored a hat-trick of medals at this year’s regional SkillBuild competition, including gold.
Last month, 12 students from the college travelled to Lewisham College for the regional finals – and three stood at as being among the top performers at this year’s competition, which is delivered in partnership with WorldSkills UK.
Tom Gallacher was awarded first place in Site Carpentry, while Thomas Whittle and Louis Phillips took the third place slots in Site Carpentry and Bricklaying (Level 1) respectively.
Gold medallist Tom is a level 3 apprentice who has studied the use of the roofing square on campus, going above and beyond throughout his studies – even buying his own roofing square so he can build complex roofing structures.
Tony Manktelow, lecturer in wood trades at Crawley College, said: “We are proud of every one of our dedicated students who got to the regional heats of this tough competition.
“It was fantastic to see Tom get first place in his category, and it has shown that diligent study and practice has enabled him to achieve a high degree of skill which has obviously paid off.”
Tom will now face a wait to discover if he has been awarded enough points to compete in the national final, to be held in Milton Keynes later this year.
Sally Challis-Manning MBE, Principal at Crawley College, added: “What an incredible achievement for our Crawley students.
“They work so very hard throughout their studies and to even be a part of such a highly renowned competition is something to be very proud of.”