College to host WorldSkills final after Shanghai competition cancelled due to pandemic

CHARLIE SAMSON will compete for gold at the WorldSkills finals this autumn.

But the 24 year-old will no longer have to travel to Shanghai as the event was cancelled earlier this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It will now take place at Coleg Cambria’s Bersham Road site in Wrexham from November 1-4.

Representing the college and Chirk-based Kronospan, Charlie joins South Walians George Denman and Michael Jones for the Manufacturing Team Challenge against representatives from Japan, Chinese Taipei, Korea, and France.

The talented trio were selected from hundreds of participants UK-wide who took part in national skills tournaments pre-pandemic.

Previously an apprentice with Magellan Aerospace, mechanical fitter Charlie, from Wrexham, is looking forward to event, and said: “It has been a long time coming for all of us, but well worth the wait.

“To be one of three Welsh participants representing the UK is a huge honour, we are confident about winning a medal and hope it will be gold.

“The team get on well, we have been training hard and are also looking to have fun and enjoy the experience.

“My friends, family and everyone at Kronospan have been really supportive and I’m sure they’ll all be rooting for us when the time comes.”

He added: “It’s a shame the overseas competition was cancelled but we will be in familiar surroundings and hopefully that works in our favour.”

The Manufacturing Team Challenge includes one main project – the design and construction to scale of a 3D crane – and nine ‘surprise’ tasks which could include CNC Milling, 3D printing, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and electronics.

Cambria lecturer Daytun Unitt is WorldSkills UK Training Manager for this category and feels immensely proud of Charlie and the squad.

“From a college perspective to have him participate is phenomenal, he’s worked so hard and fully deserves his place in the team,” said Daytun.

“It has been a long, hard road for all of them because of the pandemic and the challenges that brought including delays, virtual training sessions and of course the health and safety implications, but they have remained focused on the task in hand.

“We now look forward to the competition and once again congratulate Charlie for this incredible achievement – best of luck, we will be with you all the way.”