27 May 2009
'RHS Young Chelsea Florist of the Year’
By UK-Skills
Joe Massie, 21, from Huyton, Liverpool, who works at Fishlocks Florist and is training for WorldSkills Calgary 2009, has today been awarded the title ‘RHS Young Chelsea Florist of the Year’ at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. He receives the award after achieving the gold medal for his work designing a flamboyant floral hat, which took 30 hours to make and in which Joe competed against thirteen other young florists.
Speaking from Chelsea, Joe said: “I am absolutely over the moon. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is such a prestigious and amazing event and to be named as the RHS Young Chelsea Florist of the Year is so amazing. The judges told me that they couldn’t find any criticisms for my piece so as you can imagine I’m feeling on top of the world right now. This has really given me such a boost of confidence, especially as I’m training really hard at the moment to become a member of Team UK, which will compete at the biggest skills based competition there is, WorldSkills, in Canada in September. I really hope that this is a good sign of things to come!”
Simon Bartley, Chief Executive of UK Skills, who manages both Squad and Team UK for WorldSkills Calgary 2009 said: “We are delighted to hear that Joe has done so well at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Once again it shows how talented this young man is and it is great preparation for his training for WorldSkills success. We send our heartfelt congratulations to him.”
The independent education foundation Edge is the official supporter of Squad UK and Team UK, which enters WorldSkills. The WorldSkills Competition is the biggest skills Competition in the world and is held every two years in one of its Member countries/regions. It sets world class standards in over 40 skill categories ranging from cabinet making, plumbing and cooking to web design, hairdressing and landscape gardening. Over four days of tough competition, young people drawn now from 51 Member countries/regions test themselves against tough international standards. The ultimate prizes are gold, silver and bronze medals.
The UK’s WorldSkills team is managed by UK Skills working in partnership with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government and key partners from education, government and industry. Brathay provide and support the training and development of Squad and Team UK.
For more information, please visit: www.ukskills.org.uk.