China bound woodies

By Steve Bulman

Opportunities on offer to members of our WorldSkills family do not cease at the end of a competition cycle. Such is the case for Cabinetmaker Brett Cahill and Joiner Lukas Page, who will be off to Fujian Province, China in the middle of March to participate in a week long skill and wood culture extravaganza.

Quite out of the blue, the International Wood Culture Society (IWCS) forwarded an invitation to Brett, 2013 Cabinetmaking Skillaroo, to attend the 2014 World Wood Day International Competition an event in Xianyou, with representatives from 50 countries. The invitation stated “your participation in the 2013 WorldSkills Competition has greatly convinced us that you are an ideal participant”.

2010 National Joinery Gold Medallist, BBM recipient and Ern MacDonald Finalist, Lukas Page also received and accepted an invitation, the organisers looking forward to Lukas demonstrating his skills at the event.

The IWCS have recognised that WorldSkills is the ideal breeding and training ground for industry high achievers and a ready source of International Ambassadors. To represent Australia is a huge honour, one which we are confident Brett and Lukas will perform well.

Good luck with the trip and experience, we look forward to reports of how well WorldSkills Australia representatives fared on yet another world stage.