Christmas Message

When we wrote our Christmas Message at this time last year we had no idea that in 2020 the world would be hit with a global pandemic and how this would impact on all our lives.

We started the year with some 70 associates in training including 36 from the Police and Crime Commissioner's Young Driver Scheme. Our expectations for the year ahead were that we would achieve close to 100 test passes and deliver over 100 Taster Drives. By the time the first lockdown was imposed in March we had already achieved 16 passes and were well on our way to meet our target!

During the lockdown we endeavoured to maintain contact with all our associates, members and observers through webinars, training videos, bulletins and phone calls. When we were able to resume training again at the end of July the majority of our associates were ready to restart and 70% of our observers were also able to resume training, subject of course to the strict Covid-19 guidelines. Between the end of July and end of October we achieved another 17 passes, making 33 in total for the year. Since then all training has been postponed once more. However, given the disruption we have experienced we feel that this is a very good outcome.

During the year we were awarded top marks in the IAM National Group Audit and described by the CEO as an ‘exemplar‘ group. We have also been complimented by the Police and Crime Commissioner's Office for the way we have managed the Young Driver Scheme.

Once again none of this would have been possible without the support and hard work of the committee and observer team and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed to our success.

We are also extremely grateful to all our members for your ongoing support throughout the year. Unlike most other membership organisations our membership renewals have held up really well and for that we thank you. Your membership subscription has allowed us to continue working towards our charitable aims and objectives of road safety and will be ever-more important as we move into 2021 - we could not do it without you. We are already planning some interesting virtual speakers for the early part of the New Year and hope to get back to meeting face to face as the year progresses. 

Unfortunately none of us know what next year will bring but let’s hope the vaccination programme will have the desired effect and that our lives will start to return to something nearer to normal. We still have over 40 associate waiting to resume training and more PCC Young Drivers waiting to enrol - if you are one of them, we are really looking forward to starting your course and in the meantime hope you find your handbook full of useful information. 

Meanwhile we look forward to the time when we can all meet again in real life rather than virtually! 

With all good wishes for Christmas and we hope that you have a safe, healthy and happy New Year

Roger and Ashley
Chair and Vice Chair - IAM Lincolnshire