MATTHEW Lander a refrigeration apprentice from Huddersfield has been honoured with an award presented by Steve Cram MBE.
Lander was recognised at a reception hosted by UK Skills on February 1, to celebrate his achievements as part of the UK team who competed at the 2007 WorldSkills competition in Japan. 

Lander was able to demonstrate his skills in refrigeration as part of a team of 22 young people who competed in WorldSkills, the largest skills based competition in the world. 

The UK team won a gold, a silver, two bronzes and nine medallions of excellence and took 11th place overall in the competition. The team travelled to Shizuoka in Japan to take part in the four day competition and competed against over 800 competitors from 46 nations in a wide variety of skills.

Lander was recently congratulated by the prime minister at 10 Downing Street.

Steve Cram MBE said: 'In my career you have to have determination and drive to achieve results and that's exactly what I saw when I met with the team. It is very humbling to know you are standing with some of the most talented young people in the world'.

Joining Matthew were his employers Crowther & Shaw, Huddersfield, who have encouraged Matthew since he began training for WorldSkills almost two years ago.

Simon Bartley, chief executive of UK Skills said: 'We hope that the success of the team will inspire other skilled young people and their employers to get involved in skills competitions this year.'

WorldSkills is held every two years, and UK Skills are currently inviting entries for 70 WorldSkills UK competitions taking place this year.

Winners will be considered for selection to represent the UK at WorldSkills 2009 in Canada and in the new EuroSkills competition in The Netherlands this year. The closing date for entries is February 28.

To enter, call the competition hotline on 0800 612 0742 or visit www.worldskillsuk.org .