- The Under 17 Car Club has announced an £8,000 bursary scheme, to enable young people to take part in its innovative ‘Pathfinder Initiative’ pre-licence driving and road safety programme
- It is part of a £25k national scheme, part-funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Gloucestershire and the Under 17 Car Club Charitable Trust
- The value of each bursary is not less than £120, and sometimes more, enabling more than 60 young people to benefit each year
- PCC Chris Nelson said, “There is academic evidence that Pathfinder reduces the risk of an accident at a time when young drivers are at their least experienced and most vulnerable”.
The Pathfinder Project, which aims to reduce the road casualty rate amongst novice drivers and is supported by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire (OPCC), is offering to help pay for the cost of lessons in safe driving for new or would-be motorists.
The Under 17 Car Club Charitable Trust has announced an £8,000 bursary scheme, to enable young people from Gloucestershire to take part in its innovative ‘Pathfinder Initiative’ pre-licence driving and road safety programme.
The bursary scheme funding is part of a £25k national scheme, and has been provided by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Gloucestershire supporting young people from the policing area and the Under 17 Car Club Charitable Trust providing funding for young people from outside the county.
The value of each bursary is not less than £120, sometimes more, enabling more than 60 young people to benefit from a bursary each year. The focus of eligibility of these bursaries is typically low income, single parent families, or for young people with learning or health challenges.
PCC Chris Nelson, who was visiting the project for the first time, said, “I was very impressed. The training Pathfinder provides, the research that goes into the week, the data gathered, it was extremely impressive.
PCC Chris Nelson was visiting Pathfinder for the first time
“Above all, there is academic evidence that it reduces the possibility of an accident at a time when young drivers are at their least experienced and most vulnerable. But there are so many benefits, I would recommend anyone with a son or daughter learning to drive, or even thinking about it, to consider this innovative and fun course.
“I hope we can find ways of involving even more young people than Pathfinder is able to reach at the moment”.
According to the Under 17 Car Club Charitable Trust, the Pathfinder initiative reduces the risk of a driver having an accident in their first year on the road to 5% compared with more than 20% nationally (DfT).
Research carried-out by the club and validated by Loughborough University, shows that graduates of the Pathfinder initiative are significantly less likely to be involved in accidents or to be injured than the general population of young drivers.
You can find out more here: www.u17ccctrust.org/research/
Pathfinder Director Dr. John Beckford said, “The Pathfinder initiative is for rising 17s (15-17) and compresses the Under 17 Car Club philosophy and methodology into an intensive, exciting and high impact four or five-day programme.
“We aim to blend learning with fun to deliver key messages about road safety, risk awareness and safe attitudes”.
Pathfinder is running throughout the week until 25 February at Three Counties Showground, Malvern. Other events are planned to coincide with school holidays at Malvern and South Cerney, Gloucestershire.
You can find out more at www.under17driver.co.uk
