“I’m passionate about what I do and have the confidence to follow what I want to do,” Amelia Addis on her WorldSkills journey

It was in 2014 as a young Floristry apprentice that Amelia Addis was convinced to try out for the national skills competitions in New Zealand. Little did she know that such a seemingly small decision could have such a big impact on her life.

The national gold medalist for Floristry still had impressed WorldSkills New Zealand with her commitment to the level of training she would have to undergo to prepare for WorldSkills Sao Paulo 2015 in Brazil. However, she was more than up to the task. She stayed involved with the programme returning for WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 as a Team Leader assistant.

“It was there that I met some members of the WorldSkills Champions Trust (WSCT), learned what the programme was about. I was encouraging all of our competitors at the time to apply but then I thought, why don’t I apply too?” Amelia recalls with a smile.

Through her involvement with the WorldSkills programme and in particular the WorldSkills Champions Trust, Amelia says she has found her place in the world where she can make her contribution.

“I’m passionate about what I do and I have the confidence to follow what I want to do. Through skills competitions and through the WorldSkills movement mentorship I have found passion and purpose. When you have passion and purpose then those other things like money and earning a living will come.”

The Champions Trust is a group of 10 past WorldSkills competitors. It was formed in 2014 out of the biennial meeting of the WorldSkills Champions Forum to expand the benefits of the programme to competitors.

“It started with a pilot group which was further developed. There are three main goals: To engage champions, lift the profile of WorldSkills and be the youth voice of vocational education and skills,” Amelia explains.

“We are a collective, we work together. We each represent a region so each of us has a set group of member countries to cover. The regions are ASEAN and Oceania, that’s my region; Asia which has two representatives, Europe which has two representatives, Africa which has one representative and then the Middle East and North Africa which has one as well.”

While the Champions Trust representatives share responsibilities collectively, Amelia acknowledges that they also each have individual interests that they pursue.

“I have an interest in the WorldSkills Conference. As a competitor I didn’t know much about it and what the purpose was so that became my focus. Each of us is involved in some way in one of the committees within the WorldSkills organization. We all have some role, even if it’s a small one. WorldSkills International values our voice and calls for our opinion a lot.”

She adds, “The agenda is to have youth at the centre of everything we do so that the Champions Trust has an integral role to play and through all of this we are learning, giving our opinion as past competitors. We are involved in the marketing, for example we do a lot of the social media, we run the Instagram stories. We also serve as the public face of WorldSkills.”

She encourages every WorldSkills competitor to continue their WorldSkills journey. “The WSCT is different because we all have a skills story and it is our skills stories and real life experience that make our voices unique and relevant. For example, when talking about global issues such as sustainability we can talk about real examples in our professions.”

"If you loved being a part of the competition and meeting other young people from all around the world you would thrive in the Champions Trust. Any Champion is perfect to apply, don't have any doubts or reservations - just apply! What have you got to lose?"