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A 17-year-old from Ely, Cardiff has won a gold medal in the final of a national skills competition.
Backed by the Welsh Government through the European Social Fund, Skills Competition Wales is a series of events held in colleges across the country, designed to celebrate vocational skills and create highly skilled, talented employees for the Welsh workforce.
Bethan Greenslade, who is currently studying a Level 3 Professional Bakery course at Cardiff and Vale College, competed against five other students from across Wales in a series of culinary challenges within a 5-hour time period.
The competitors were tasked with creating a chocolate and sugar sculpture with a height of 30cm, and 30 ‘petit fours’ – bitesize confectionary or savoury appetizers, weighing between six and 14 grams.
Bethan said: “For my sculpture, I made a solid chocolate ring, surrounded by sugar flowers, which I’d practised once before in class, and the judges seemed to really like it.
“It was an exciting experience. I was oddly more nervous when I was practising on the days leading up to the competition than on the day itself. As soon as I got started, I forgot about my nerves, which was lucky!”
“I was approached at the competition by the Welsh Culinary Association and was offered a place on one of their courses, which I was very excited about. My next goal is to enter more competitions and see what other opportunities arise from those.”
More than 50 competitions are taking place this year, across a wide range of different vocations from bricklaying and hairdressing to aeronautical engineering and culinary art.
The successful youngsters may then go on to be shortlisted for the UK Squad, competing against the world’s most talented young people at the EuroSkills competition in Austria, in 2020, or the WorldSkills international final in Shanghai in 2021.
Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning, Eluned Morgan said: “Competitions like these are essential for establishing transferable skills for the future, and allow young people at the start of their careers to flourish.
“They provide individuals from Wales with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills as well as the chance to go further and compete on a national or even international level.
“I would like to congratulate Bethan on her brilliant achievement and wish her the best of luck in the next stage of the competition and I look forward to seeing her prosper in her future career.”
