Newry Students make the cut in regional Hairdressing heat

Newry students featured strongly in at the SRC hosted Association of Hairdressers and Therapists Regional Heat held at the SRC Armagh campus this week.

 The association, founded in 1963 involves numerous members ranging from teachers, trainers and assessors of hairdressing or therapy subjects, who hold or are working towards teaching and assessing qualifications.

The AHT hosts an annual seminar for updates on skills, national standards, qualifications, education, training initiatives and manufacturers and specialist demonstrations. The student competitions are held annually at regional and national levels. 

The regional competition allowed learners the opportunity to enhance their technical and employability skills, as well as test their skills under pressure in preparation to succeed within their cStudents a hosen trade. There were over 13 categories involving 128 participants from Armagh, Lurgan, Newry, Belfast Met and SERC. Impressively, there were 30 out of 42 winners for SRC. 

The judging panel included representatives from across the hair and beauty industries including Robert Rousseau (Chief Advisor for Hairdressing Technology to WorldSkills International), David Bassett (UK National Judge AHT), Esther Rousseau (UK National Judge for the AHT Hair & Beauty Competitions) and our former SRC student Shannon Fearon (2021 WorldSkills UK Gold medal for Beauty Therapy).

The judging panel remarked on the unending display of creativity and the talent that was demonstrated throughout the entire competition. 

A huge thank you to all who took part and well done to all the incredibly talented hairdressers, barbers, and beauty therapists. It was great to see a wide variety of individuals taking part. 

Congratulations to all the winners who will now progress to the National final on Monday 23^rd May in Blackpool which will be held in Norcalympia Festive Hall Norbreck Castle Hotel. Good luck to all!

AHT Regional Heat Winners 2022

Competition No. 1- Blow Dry 

1^st Place- Tia Algie, Belfast Met 

Competition No.2- Men’s Barbering 

1^st Place- Martin Hillen, SRC Newry 

Competition No.3- Body Painting 

1^st Place- Keri Woodcraft, SRC Armagh 

Competition No.5- Period Make-up 

1^st Place – Jodie Gilpin, SRC Armagh 

Competition No.9- Fantasy Hair 

1^st Place- Siofra Quinn, SRC Newry  

Competition No.10- Ladies Evening 

1^st Place- Lauren Taylor, SRC Newry 

Competition No.11- Face Painting 

1^st Place- Caitlin McManus, SERC

Competition No. 14- Bridal Hairdressing 

1^st Place- Molly McKee, SRC Newry 

Competition No.15- Bridal Make-up

1^st Place- Shaunagh Dynes, SRC Armagh 

Competition No.17- AHT Skills Ladies Finish 

1^st Place- Katie Patterson, Belfast Met 

Competition No.18- Men’s Creative Cutting 

1^st Place- Seanay Hughes, SRC Armagh 

Competition No.21- Create an Image

1^st Place- Sophie Murphy, SRC Newry  

Intercollege

1^st Place, SRC

2^nd Place, Belfast Met 

Speaking after the event Brian Doran, Principal & CEO of Southern Regional College congratulated the winners “Congratulations to all winners and participants. This is a phenomenal achievement which sets our students up for success in the future. It is a real tribute to the hard work, dedication and preparation of the lecturers and students. Well done to all involved and good luck to our SRC students competing in Blackpool on Monday 23^rd May 2022, we wish you all the success”.