OXFORD joinery lecturer Paul Tierney is spearheading a campaign to improve Britain's skills for the future.

He is heading to Japan next month for the WorldSkills competition with the UK's potential champions.

As training manager of the UK team, Mr Tierney will lead 22 young men and women in an intense four-day battle for gold, silver and bronze medals in skills such as building, landscape gardening, engineering, IT and plumbing, against rivals from 47 other countries.

Mr Tierney, who lives in Abingdon, volunteered to take on the role because he believes it inspires young people to reach their potential.

He added: "We need to show that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. In Oxford, where we have all these wonderful buildings, we need to appreciate that they were actually built by people. We need to get schools, and society, to take in the fact that skills are important."

As training manager, Paul has been coaching his entrant - Ben Ingset, from Somerset - since March. Also going to Japan is his ex-student Beau Hewlett, who works for Bryan Gelder Joinery, in Headington.

Pictured are, from left, Mr Hewlett, Mr Tierney and Mr Gelder.

Mr Hewlett, who just missed a place in the finals, has been given a bursary to attend and will be fast-tracked to compete for a place in 2009.

When Mr Tierney arrives in Japan a week tomorrow, he will also become one of the judges in the joinery category.

He said: "The UK performance in the past has been lacklustre, but we're seeing a sea change. The Government is doing its bit now and London is hosting the 2011 competition, just before the Olympics."

WorldSkills spokesman Alaine Biggs said: "It's practically a full-time job, but all the training managers are volunteers. They do this because they believe that encouraging young people to embrace these types of skills is important, especially as the UK faces a national skills shortage."