Twenty two year old plumber, Christopher Lonsdale, has just returned from Calgary, Canada. However, Chris hasn’t been on holiday, he has been representing his country in the WorldSkills Calgary 2009 Competition. Chris, from Bishop Auckland, was selected for the competition after months of training and a gruelling elimination process.
Chris’s journey to the competition started back in 2004 when he enrolled on a NVQ Level 2 plumbing course at New College Durham, where he later progressed to NVQ Level 3. Chris entered - and won - the regional Sheet Lead Work Competition in 2006 and 2007 held at Durham and Hartlepool College and went on to the National final at Leicester and Derby respectively. Chris also won the regional Copper Competition held at Leeds College in 2008 and represented New College Durham at the Birmingham NEC which he also won.
As a result of winning the regional and national heats in these competitions, he and three other top national competitors were put forward for training, where the hard work really began. Chris commuted to North Hertfordshire College in Stevenage in November 2008 where he was mentored by Paul Dodds, in preparation for the World Skills Competition. The competition itself lasted 4 days and involved two elimination processes before finally, only Chris was successful in being put forward to represent the plumbing trade. Chris is now back from Canada, after coming 7th in the competition, with a World Medal of Excellence which he received for performing and producing a very high standard of work.
David Naylor, plumbing lecturer at New College Durham, said “Chris was always willing to get ahead and was keen to work to a high standard. I’m both proud and pleased that Chris has done so well and am sure he will have a successful future.”
Chris will be involved in training the entrants in the 2011 WorldSkills Competition which will be held in London. He said “I’m not sure at the moment, where I want to go from here. I enjoyed studying and received great support and encouragement from staff at New College Durham. I’m thinking about maybe moving into teaching or perhaps setting up on my own. I’m just weighing up my options at present. I’m so pleased to have had the opportunity to represent my county in a competition like this; it’s been a fantastic experience.”