Hello everyone,

The year seems to be  flying by, and with the clocks having gone back the light evenings are not far away (hurrah!). With the Winter Course now concluded we start looking forward to the Spring / Summer Course. Here’s hoping we have a Summer similar to last year; driving just seems all the more pleasant when the sun is shining! That being said, the  unpredictability of British weather can bring its own challenges, from blinding sunshine one minute to pouring rain the next. Hopefully most of these can be easily overcome with a good application of the System.  

The Observer team has seen some changes lately. Firstly, we have had two long-serving Observers, Eric Lowe and Alan  Phillips, hang up their clipboards. Both personally and on behalf of the Group I’d like to extend my thanks to them both for the hard work and dedication they have  given to SHGAM over the years. Their input and  enthusiasm will be sorely missed. On a positive note, we welcome Andrew Farrimond as a newly qualified Local Observer. Congratulations to Andrew on completing his qualification. We hope you’ll be observing for many years to come! As I mentioned, we now look forward to the  Spring / Summer Course.

Once again, we are running an “open morning” on Sunday 28th April between 11am and 1pm at the Ibis hotel in Haydock. If you know of anyone who is  interested in taking an  advanced driving course, or anyone who would like to check their driving is still up to scratch, or even if you would like to check you still drive to an  acceptable standard, then we will be available to give information and  assessment drives to  anyone who wants one.  

That’s all from me, I hope you all enjoy the arrival of Spring and the upcoming bank holidays! Here’s to your continued safe, systematic driving

Tom Field
Group Chairman