SUCCESS is in the air as another Pembrokeshire College learner recently picked up gold at the UK WorldSkills regional finals.

Danielle Greep, aged 20 from Whitland, who works at Bluestone, near Narberth, outshone the competition with her advanced aromatherapy skills, following in the footsteps of Steven Kokolin, who last month became the UK WorldSkills Welding Champion.

Competing against beauty therapists from across the region and beyond, Danielle attended the one-day event held at the NEC, Birmingham, on April 25. Danielle is now waiting anxiously to see if she will be awarded a place at the WorldSkills UK Final to be held at Derby College on June 26.

As part of the competition, Danielle was required to provide a consultation, blend oils, perform a treatment, and offer aftercare advice demonstrating her practical skills whilst answering questions showing her extensive theoretical knowledge.

Danielle has been studying on the Level 3 Complementary Therapies course at the college since September and has already completed Level 1 and 2 Beauty Therapy. She is combining her studies with working at The Well Spa and can be sure that with this success on her CV, the world of aromatherapy is at her feet.

Cath Chapman, beauty therapy tutor at the college, encouraged Danielle to enter the competition and commented: "Danielle worked really hard to win the regional heats. She put a lot of hard work and effort into preparing for the competition and we are extremely proud of her success. Danielle has proved to be an outstanding therapist."

Danielle added: "I've loved studying at the college. I didn't want to go on to sixth form as I had my mind set on becoming a beauty therapist. I've had a lot of support from my lecturers and without them I wouldn't have achieved gold."

Whilst Danielle was busy impressing judges with her aromatherapy skills, fellow learner Jakita Roach, aged 18 from Kilgetty, was also impressing judges with her polished performance, gaining second place in the WorldSkills Beauty national final held on May 6 at Coleg Sir Gar.

College tutor Ceri Hewitson-Jones accompanied Jakita to the competition and commented: "Jakita has put a phenomenal amount of effort into preparing for this competition. She has taken on board all the advice offered to her by her mentors for the competition. She really deserves to go through to the WorldSkills Final and we're keeping our fingers crossed for her."

Danielle and Jakita must now wait anxiously to find out if they have scored enough points to secure them a place at the national finals.

Pembrokeshire College offers a range of beauty and complementary therapy qualifications and is currently interviewing students who wish to start a course in September. For further details on these courses, please contact admissions on 0800 716 236.