Tyler leaves for Russia: The Journey of our Welding Superstar
WEC Group “Welding Superstar” Tyler Atkinson is travelling to Russia next week, to represent the United Kingdom in Construction Metalwork at the WorldSkills “Olympics”. The WorldSkills 2019 will run from 22nd – 27th August in Kazan Russia and will feature 56 different skills with competitors from 63 countries.
Tyler’s WorldSkills journey began three years ago following his success at the regional and national world skills UK competition in 2016. Here is his journey:
-
>
September 2015: Tyler joins WEC Group as a Welding and Fabrication Apprentice.
-
>
November 2016: Tyler competed in WorldSkills UK as the youngest competitor and receives highly commended.
-
>
November 2016: After continuously producing work to the highest standard Tyler is named WEC Group Apprentice of the year for 2016. With a natural flair towards engineering he has already passed 2 welder coding qualifications and scored one of the top 10 highest scores in the regional WorldSkills heats.
-
>
November 2017: Tyler successfully competed in WorldSkills UK Regional and national competition, securing a silver medal, narrowly missing out on gold medal to an older WEC Apprentice.
-
>
March 2018: Following consistency producing high quality workmanship across 2 different WorldSkills Events, Tyler is selected to complete for a place within Squad UK at WorldSkills Kazan 2019 and will attend various boot camp sessions and events over the next 12 months.
-
>
November 2018: Tyler is selected as a showcase guest at WorldSkills UK 2018.
-
>
February 2019: Tyler is featured on BBC North West Tonight earning him the title of "Welding Superstar".
Tyler Atkinson | World Skills 2019 | BBC North West Tonight Evening News | 26/02/2019 from WEC Group Ltd on Vimeo.
-
>
March 2019: After a 12 month training programme, consisting of 25 days technical skills development and 2 gruelling preparation boot camp sessions, as well as guest appearances in Ireland and Finland's national competitions, Tyler is selected to represent Squad UK at WorldSkills Kazan 2019 after fighting off tough competition.
-
>
May 2019: Tyler visited Kazan, Russia as a guest competitor in the WorldSkills Russia national competition.
-
>
June 2019: Local MP Jake Berry visited Tyler to wish him luck!
-
>
July 2019: Tyler attended a reception at Parliament, along with all the other Squad UK Competitors.
-
>
August 2019: Tyler leaves for Russia alongside Squad UK in the hope of bringing back the UK's first Gold Medal in Construction Metalwork at a WorldSkills event.
