Winter has arrived and so  this is the time of year to take extra special care when we drive due to darker days and inclement weather.

Our Winter Advanced Driver course starts in January and in the last weeks we have had two  Associate sign-ups for this course. This is good news since for the six months prior to this we had only one new Associate sign up! Across Merseyside Associate recruitment has been challenging so its even more important that both the Committee and the membership look for ways to raise awareness of what we do. Remember that we are offering a £100 cashback for any driver aged under 30.

We must not lose sight of what our purpose is - to help reduce death and injury on our roads. We do this by both raising awareness of what we do and helping people to become more confident, skillful and safer drivers and riders through our well organised courses.   

As members or friends of the Group are you also members of hobby groups, societies or other groups where people come together on a regular basis? Do you have invited speakers at your meetings? I’ll be happy to give a presentation entitled ‘Surviving while driving’ to any group of people. This is not an advanced driving presentation (I don’t mention the System of Car Control!). Rather, its an interactive presentation where I provide hints and tips for drivers to keep safe on urban, rural and major roads. I gave the presentation to Pilkington employees on its safety day in October. It went down very well. Please let me know if you a member of a group that may be interested.

Finally, the IAM is supporting the Christmas Challenge campaign as detailed on page 3 of the December newsletter. I know that the Christmas season can be an expensive time of year but Im sure any amount of donation would be much appreciated.  

Safe driving … and riding

Mark Farnworth

Group Chairman