On Sunday 8 March, 15 current members of GAM accepted an invitation to a free refresher drive, and by all accounts it was a great success. The format was kept simple, with a quick briefing, the usual eyesight and document checks, and a run out for 45 to 50 minutes on a variety of roads. A short written report was provided to each participant.
A wide range of ages and levels of experience were present – some had passed their test a year or two ago and were interested in further training and asked about additional qualifications, and several had passed many years ago, over 30 in a couple of cases, and just wanted a second opinion on their driving, but all still drove safely and considerately. After the event there was a renewed interest in the latest Associate Logbook, so a digital copy was circulated.
10 GAM Observers were kind enough to give up their Sunday afternoon after a busy morning with 19 Associates in training as well, but Lesley kept us all in order and made sure we were fed and watered. Comments received afterwards included:
Thank you for the opportunity to take a refresher run, which I found very useful and an encouragement to maintain and hopefully improve my skills. Thank you also for the current Associate Handbook. Just a quick flick through showed a number of differences compared with my version, so there is scope for some further study.
I really enjoyed the afternoon – it was very well organised and I certainly benefited from it.
Just to say that I found the run to be extremely valuable. Thank you for putting it on. And for the coffee and cake!
Thank you for your email and logbook – a good reference. I enjoyed the drive with John – mostly OK but he was able to pick me up on a few things and point out the error of my ways, with good advice I hasten to add. Having driven all over the country for many years, 68 in my case it is so easy to forget or miss things, so a refresher was great.
Maybe next time we can persuade some more GAM members to come along and have a refresher run, and enjoy some time chatting with the Observers and other members – we will do it again.