£1000 Training Bursary For SkillHORSE Champion

Derby College has pledged support for SkillHORSE and shown their commitment by offering a £1000 training bursary for the SkillHORSE Champion. The winner of this prestigious prize will be decided at SkillCity - The Skills Show, to be held from 13-16 November 2002 in Manchester.

SkillCity will be the largest and most exciting gathering of skills in Europe. Organized by UK Skills and The Prince's Trust it aims to inspire and motivate young people by demonstrating opportunities for their future careers whilst also acting as a showcase of the UK's skills to the rest of the world. Over 80,000 visitors are expected to attend the event, the vast majority being young people. There will also be numerous media, sporting and political figures in attendance over the four days.

SkillHORSE will involve competitions, displays by leading riders and "have-a-go" activities for visitors. It will promote vocational skills in the horse industry, to recognise and celebrate the achievement of those working in the industry and to raise standards. The competition is aimed at young people on Work Based Learning programmes supported by the Learning and Skills Council and working toward Level 3 in Horse Care and Management, or those who have achieved NVQ Level 3 no earlier than June 2002.

Ian Stark OBE, Patron of SkillHORSE, is delighted by the support shown. "The bursary is a highly appropriate prize and will give the winner an exceptional head-start in furthering their skills and future career".

Belinda Turner, Chair of SkillHORSE and Chief Executive of Stubbing Court Combined Training Group, initiated this competition with the help of UK Skills and the Learning and Skills Council. Belinda commented "Skills in the horse industry will be recognised and represented for the first time at a national show case event alongside all other industries. Potentially, this is a very significant step in terms of the perceptions of the industry by the government, media and young people - the future workforce. We have been overwhelmed by the interest fro all the participating colleges and training providers with nearly all of them putting forward two of their best candidates for one of the assessment days."

Linda Ammon, Chief Executive of UK SKILLS, added: "UK Skills is delighted to work with SkillHORSE in helping make sure that skills development in the horse industry is maintained. SkillCity itself has something for every young person. Ideas and inspiration for those unsure about their future and world class competitions for those who have already chosen theirs."

During SkillHORSE students will be required to ride, lunge, turn out for a competition and will be interviewed by leading riders on all aspects of equine management. The best two students from each of the first three days of SkillCity (13-15 Nov) will go forward to the SkillHORSE final top be held on the 16th November at SkillCity. The most able student will win the £1000 training bursary provided by Derby College.

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