Stonemasonry apprentice bags top
City & Guilds excellence award

A 29 year-old stonemasonry apprentice,
Thomas Soare, who works for Matthias Garn Master Mason in Bugthorpe, has been awarded a
City & Guilds Medal of Excellence in recognition of his outstanding performance on the Level 3 Construction diploma at York College.

City & Guilds, the UK’s leading vocational education organisation, has awarded the coveted medals every year since 1879. The Medals for Excellence programme rewards people who have displayed exceptional talents as students or educational professionals, and whose portfolio and achievements put them a cut above the rest.

Thomas will officially be awarded his medal by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace and he is proud to take be taking his grandma along as his guest. He has also been automatically shortlisted for the City & Guilds Lion Awards; the City & Guilds coveted national learner awards, dubbed the ‘education Oscars’. The final winners will be announced at a prestigious ceremony at London’s Roundhouse in this month.

This year’s Lion Awards also contain a new category; the People’s Choice award, voted for by the public. City & Guilds has set up a dedicated Facebook page for the awards where people can vote for their People’s Choice winner. The site can be viewed through the following link: www.facebook.com/lionawards2011.

Paul Hill, Stonemasonry tutor at York College, said: ‘Thomas has deservedly won this mark of special distinction. Currently, Thomas is taking a sabbatical to enhance his traditional skills further by winning a fellowship to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). He is an inspiration to others and demonstrates that getting the right skills can be the passport to fulfilling his true potential and, more importantly, his dreams. ’

Chris Jones, CEO and Director General of
City & Guilds said: “City & Guilds is dedicated to helping its learners discover their talents and unlock their potential. We firmly believe in the importance of celebrating the success of our learners through our annual awards ceremony; it's an incredible honour to win a Medal for Excellence and be nominated for a Lion Award. Thomas should be really proud of his success and I wish him all the best for the future”.