News

Young driver takes the wheel towards safer roads thanks to Commissioner-funded scheme

Published by Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner, 13 October 2025.

Another young motorist has successfully completed the IAM RoadSmart Advanced Driving Course, supported by a grant from Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone.

Zach Scrivener, 21, from Kingsthorpe, is the latest young driver to benefit from the Young Driver Scheme, which offers a £105 refund to drivers under 26 who pass the Advanced Driving Test. The scheme is delivered by Northampton Advanced Motorists and funded through the Northamptonshire Road Safety Community Fund.

“I wanted to keep my driving skills up to date, especially after driving for three years. My instructor George recommended the course, and I’m really glad I took it,” said Zach.

“It’s helped me feel more confident, especially when navigating bends safely and understanding what to look for as an advanced driver. I’d definitely recommend it to other young drivers, it helps you a lot,” he added.

The Advanced Driving Course takes participants through a range of road types and conditions, coaching them in techniques that build confidence and promote safer driving habits.

Since the grant scheme began 25 young drivers have taken part and benefitted, each receiving the refund upon passing the test – reducing the course cost to just £99.

IAM RoadSmart Director of Policy and Standards Nicholas Lyes said: “We’re incredibly proud of the young drivers who take on the challenge of the Advanced Driving Course. It’s not just about passing a test – it’s about developing a mindset of safety, awareness and responsibility that lasts a lifetime. Zach’s achievement is a great example of how young people can take proactive steps to improve their driving skills and contribute to safer roads across Northamptonshire.

“IAM RoadSmart is very grateful for the support from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in making this opportunity more accessible and continue our mission to reduce risk and promote road safety for all.”

The Commissioner’s office continues to invest in community-led road safety initiatives, recognising that education and prevention are key to reducing harm on Northamptonshire’s roads.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone said: “Too many people lose their lives or are seriously injured on our roads every year. Young drivers aged 17 to 25 are statistically more at risk, and that’s why I’m committed to supporting initiatives that help them develop safe driving habits.

“I’m proud to support this brilliant scheme from IAM RoadSmart and Northampton Advanced Motorists. They play a vital role in promoting road safety and educating drivers across Northamptonshire. It’s fantastic to see young people like Zach taking proactive steps to improve their skills and better protect themselves and others on the road.”

For more information about the Young Driver Scheme and how to apply, visit: www.northampton-iam.org.uk or email: nam_secretary@yahoo.co.uk

Motorway Experience 2025

Following the successful Motorway Experience in 2024, we are running (in conjunction with Northamptonshire Police, another Motorway Experience day on 19 October 2025.

Do you tend to avoid motorways, feel less confident driving on them than you would like, don’t like joining them, or have a general issue, then this free event is for you.

Each session (of around 2 hours) starts with a short classroom session about motorway driving delivered by Northamptonshire Police’s Driver Training Unit. Following that you will go out in a marked police car, from Police HQ to the M1, where an officer from the Roads Policing Unit will demonstrate how to join and leave the motorway safely, how to change lane and judge speed.

Once you have returned, you can practice what you have just learnt by having a free motorway taster drive in your own vehicle with a qualified Observer from Northampton Advanced Motorists.

The event is free and will take place at Police Headquarters, Wootton Hall, Northampton NN4 0JQ. There are a number of sessions throughout the day. Booking is essential https://northampton-iam.org.uk/motorway-day/

A partnership event between Northampton Advanced Motorists and Northamptonshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit and Driver Training Unit

Member Advanced Driver Refresher Courses now available

Now available in Northamptonshire and other areas across the UK, IAM RoadSmart can offer members (past or present) the opportunity to refresh their advanced driving skills with a Member Advanced Driver Refresh Course for just £99.

About the sessions

The Member’s Advanced Driver Refresher has been designed to focus on maintaining Advanced Driving skills with reference to the competencies in the Advanced Driver Logbook. Your Observer will be able to identify some areas to work on and you will be encouraged to input into the focus of each session to gain the most benefit. There’s no test and there’s no pressure – just enjoy the sessions!

What’s included?

The first session will start with introductions and a discussion of your goals. Sessions 2 and 3 will focus on revision of IPSGA and developing skills individual to the driver. Session 4 is an optional session to recap on learning and bring everything together. The course is likely to take a couple of months depending on how often you meet. Between your sessions, you’ll have the opportunity to put into practise your learnings.

Our Year 2024/25

As you can see, we had an excellent year, all thanks to our amazing volunteers.

We are Winners!

We are thrilled to announce we are winners!!

Our Group won the Group Partnership of the Year Award from IAM RoadSmart. This award is for an IAM RoadSmart group who worked with an external group, organisation or company and developed the most effective and impactful partnership in support of IAM RoadSmart objectives. ☺

We won because of the impressive work our volunteers all do, from helping out at the CarKraft Young Drivers events through to the massive effort from all our Observers at our frequent Mature Driver Hints and Tips drive days. So far our Observers have conducted 181 Hints and Tips drive with 18 mature drivers then joining our group to undertake their advanced driving course.

Another partnership event where everyone pulled together was the hugely successful Motorway Day we ran with Northants Police for members of the public – and we are organising another one for 2025!

We have partnered with the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner who in 2019 awarded us a grant that allows us to run our young driver scheme. This is where we refund £101 back to our young drivers (under 26) when they pass their advanced test, and to date we have had 18 test passes.

We also do a lot of work with the Northants Safter Roads Alliance, and also provide support for individuals referred to us by Victim Support.

On 14 November our Chair, Steve Groves, attended the award ceremony to collect our award – presented by IAM RoadSmart’s CEO Anthony Kildare (left in photo). 

Success for Elaine and Phil

Mature drivers, Elaine and Phil Doughty, who also happen to be husband and wife, have passed their Advanced Driving Tests within hours of each other!

Phil and Elaine Doughty (both 68) undertook a free hints and tips drive offered by Northampton Advanced Motorists at the Northants Safer Roads Alliance’s Mature Driver Roadshow. Both decided they then wanted to take the advanced driving test so have been undergoing drives with Northampton Advanced Motorists observer and Chair, Steve Groves.

Once both were deemed to be at advanced level, their Advanced Tests were requested. Not only did the two tests come through for the same day, but they were also back-to-back with the same examiner.
Phil commented “We attended the Mature Driver Roadshow as it sounded interesting and aimed at our age group. We then decided to take the Advanced Driving Course because as grandparents we wanted to make sure we were safe driving our precious grandchildren”.

Elaine added “Steve put us at our ease during the driving sessions. We are more confident now, more aware of other road users and road signs”.

Steve Groves, their mentor said “It was a pleasure to work with Elaine and Phil as their observer/trainer. To see their progress in observation and road safety skills throughout the drives we had, and the end result of achieving their test passes is something I admire. Their success helps achieve our aim of safer roads for all”.

A massive congratulations to Elaine and Phil on this excellent achievement which all stemmed from attending a NSRA Mature Driver Roadshow.

Keith Millard, Chair of the NSRA Practioners Group said, “This is a fantastic achievement by Phil and Elaine. We work in partnership with IAM RoadSmart Northants and are grateful that they offer our event participants FREE assessments. It is never too late for any of us to improve/enhance our driving skills and we encourage anyone attending one of our workshops to follow the lead of Phil and Elaine.”

The NSRA Mature Driver Roadshow is a free event aimed at drivers 60+, covering all different aspects of driving. It comprises a short talk and time to meet informally with stand holders. Free advice will be available on car adaptions, eyesight, how your prescription medications may affect you, and much more. The aim is to keep mature drivers driving safer, for longer.

If you are interested in attending a Mature Driver Roadshow, please book a free place https://www.universe.com/mature-drivers-Northampton-2024 . To book a free advanced driving taster drive click Taster Booking Form or contact nam_secretary@yahoo.co.uk.

Our Motorway Day

What an amazing event – even the drizzly conditions couldn’t put a damper on the buzz during the day.

Billed as “Do you tend to avoid motorways, feel less confident driving on them than you would like, don’t like joining them, or have a general issue, then this free event is for you.” the motorway day was a joint enterprise between us and Northants Police’s Driving School and Safer Roads Team.  The format was a classroom session, followed by a demo drive in a police car, and finally the opportunity to practice in their own vehicle with one of our observers.  The sessions would run every 45 minutes.

In total 77 members of the public took part, benefiting from the classroom session and police demonstration drive.  We were kept very busy with our team doing a further 43 observed motorway drives.

We have received great feedback including

“The observer was excellent.  Immediately got to grips with how I drove with useful tips and suggestions throughout. Felt comfortable and relaxed.“

Motorway Day

What an amazing event – even the drizzly conditions couldn’t put a damper on the buzz during the day.

Billed as “Do you tend to avoid motorways, feel less confident driving on them than you would like, don’t like joining them, or have a general issue, then this free event is for you.” the motorway day was a joint enterprise between us and Northants Police’s Driving School and Safer Roads Team.  The format was a classroom session, followed by a demo drive in a police car, and finally the opportunity to practice in their own vehicle with one of our observers.  The sessions would run every 45 minutes.

The potential numbers attending were limited by the number that could fit into a police car for the demo drive, and initially it was suggested four police cars offering 12 slots per session.  We agreed seven sessions which would give 84 members of the public a slot.  We wondered if there were 84 drivers out there who would be interested, so we all (us, Northants Police and Northants Fire and Rescue) started advertising it.  Less than a week later we had the answer – yes!  We were fully booked and people were joining the waiting list.  The Safer Roads Team kindly organised for a fifth police car to be available so we could up the tickets to 105, and these were soon taken.

On the day Andy Hunt (our Group President and part of the police driving school) briefed our observers on what the police were covering, and then while the first classroom session was taking place our observers had the chance to have a quick police demo.

In the classroom, Andy Hunt went through the basics of motorway driving.  He pointed out that vehicles are going a bit quicker on the motorway so drivers should use more observation and check their mirrors more, and there is less time to react.  He covered motorway signs, including the red X, how to join a motorway, speed limits, lane discipline, overtaking, driver fatigue and leaving the motorway.  He included tips such as

• “have the confidence to accelerate safely into a gap rather than braking [when joining]”
• “remember when you are joining a motorway multiple people will be making decisions and motorway traffic has priority”
• “match your speed to a gap”
• “take more breaks at night or in bad weather”
• “be aware of emergency services – they can travel quickly”
• “take time to judge speed correctly [overtaking]”
• “be careful at night/poor visibility as it is more difficult to judge speed [overtaking]”
• “when leaving [the motorway] get into lane as early as possible”
• “on the slip road check your speed as you may be going faster than you think”

Interestingly, the sessions in the morning were mainly drivers aged 30+, but the later afternoon sessions were mainly young drivers.  The ages ranged from 17 to over 70, and there was a 60/40 split of female/males.

It was an excellent event and really enjoyed by those attending as we have received really good feedback.  We have gained six new associate members as well.

In total, 77 people took part (sadly there were a number of no shows) and we did 43 observed practical drives.  One of those observed drives was kindly undertaken by Chris Barker using his dual control driving school car as one young delegate had failed his driving test earlier in the week and would otherwise have missed out on the practical aspect of the day.

Spring Newsletter Published

Our members Spring Newsletter is published.  Articles include night driving, e-scooters, our Christmas breakfast, classroom sessions and much more!

Another successful mature driver hints and tips drives

We have held our second mature driver hints and tips drives day on Sunday 25th February, and it was a great success.  Over 20 hints and tips drives were undertaken as a follow on to the Northants Safer Roads Alliance’s Mature Driver Roadshows where delegates were able to book a free hints/tips drive.

These drives are aimed at enabling older drivers to stay driving longer – but safer as well.  Each drive starts off with an eyesight test followed by a drive where our Observers offer hints and tips on how to stay safe while on the road.  Each mature driver gets a written assessment form at the end covering the advice given during the drive.

Many thanks to our Observers who were kepot busy during the day.

Motorway Driving – 17th March

We are really excited to be hosting a free motorway driving event in partnership with Northamptonshire Police on 17th March.  Aimed at members of the public who may tend to avoid motorways, feel less confident driving on them, don’t like joining them, or just want to learn how to drive safely on a motorway.

Each session (of around 2 hours) starts with a short classroom session about motorway driving delivered by Northamptonshire Police’s Driver Training Unit. Following that you will go out in a marked police car, from Police HQ to the M1, where an officer from the Roads Policing Unit will demonstrate how to join and leave the motorway safely, how to change lane and judge speed.

Once you have returned, you can practice what you have just learnt by having a free motorway taster drive in your own vehicle with a qualified Observer from Northampton Advanced Motorists.

The event is free and will take place at Police Headquarters, Wootton Hall, Northampton NN4 0JQ. There are a number of sessions throughout the day.  Booking is essential.

A partnership event between Northampton Advanced Motorists and Northamptonshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit and Driver Training Unit.

Observer Training

We held an excellent observer training session yesterday for those observers who are now almost through their training.  Each of our five (yes five!) new observers have been allocated a mentor and will now act as observer with one Associate each.  We look forward to seeing their first test passes soon!!

We have Won (again!!)

Following our success last year in IAM RoadSmart’s “Best Group Publicity Stand” competition, we have won another one!

Over a three month period at the end of last year, IAM RoadSmart ran a “Best Social Media” competition.  This one we did not need to enter, as they would judge it by looking at all Group’s social media feeds.

We were very surprised to receive an email from IAM RoadSmart to say we had won, and had a prize of £100 to be spent in the IAM Shop.   Needless to say, we have already spent the prize, this time on observer books and other useful stuff!!

We would really love you to follow us:

Facebook:  @NorthamptonIAM

X (formerly Twitter):  @NorthamptonIAM

Thank You.

Classroom Session

While we use the same presentation for all our classroom sessions we never know which way the
discussions will go and the following is a combination from three classroom sessions held late
summer/autumn.

Headlamp flashing is a topic that raises its head at most classroom sessions, and it was no exception being discussed in all three classroom sessions. A myriad of different meanings were identified. To act on any of these is fraught with danger, has the other driver seen the motorcycle filtering past etc.

We should never use a headlight flash for anything other than to let another driver know they we there.

There was also a discussion on using hazard lights, specifically if on a smart motorway and your car looses power. However this may confuse other drivers so would be better to use left signal to
show you are trying to get across to lane 1.

David Reeves, who presents the classroom sessions raised an interesting point regarding observation. One of the key techniques of advanced driving is gathering in information of what is happing around us, and planning for potential outcome scenarios. How many times do we see a hazard situation ahead,
but the car in the outside lane continues to hurtle towards the hazard even though they must have taken in the same information but are just not using it.

Mature Driver Roadshows

Over the autumn the Northants Safer Roads Alliance has run two more Mature Driver Roadshows.

The first was held at The Goods Shed, Rushden – a really good venue for the roadshow as it is cavernous and holds 75 delegates and around ten stands (of which we are one!)

The second was at the Icon Centre in Daventry, slightly smaller but still held 75 delegates an a number of stands.

With two sessions each (morning and afternoon) this gives 150 mature drivers (60+ age range) the opportunity of attending this free event. There is a presentation first that covers changes to the highway code, eyesight (Cassies Law), drink driving (limits), drug driving (prescription drugs), expecting the unexpected, what3words and much more.

There is always a lively discussion around the hierarchy of road users especially the issue of giving way to a pedestrian who is waiting to cross a minor road that the driver is turning into.

The NSRA began these roadshows last year to help a vulnerable age group, and it is interesting that in the first one, very few mature drivers had heard of what3words. At the November (Daventry) one, there was a significant increase in mature drivers knowing and having What3words on their phones.

As part of the roadshow, we have been offering free tips and hints drives for the drivers, and have been astounded how many have taken up the offer. 118 have requested an assessment, and so far we have carried out 76 drives. Ad added bonus for us is that ten drivers have signed up to do the advanced driving course – welcome!

We also attended the Wellingborough U3A wellbeing show in September where we received a lot of interest.

Group member honoured

IAM Awards 2023 – Group Volunteer of the Year Award – Driver: Henny Cameron

Henny works tirelessly for Northampton Advanced Motorists (NAM) and is one of the key contacts with the local police force and Northants Safter Roads Alliance. As part of this she has worked hard with the local Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, and has secured money for the past four years to allow NAM to fund a successful young driver’s scheme, where they get a £100 refund on passing their IAM RoadSmart advanced test.

(c) IAM RoadSmart

CarKraft

The Northants Safer Roads Alliance run the very successful CarKraft, for drivers under 30 years old.
This event is always held at the Porche Driving Experience, Silverstone – as they have a kick plate and water based ice hill skid pan. Due to the availability of the centre this year, the CarKrafts were held in September and November.

Drivers get a classroom session, an observed drive with a police advanced driver, a session on the kick plate and ice hill skid pans ,a look around a HGV including inside the cab to see the blind spots and a session with a Highways Officer.

Non-drivers receive a classroom session and their first driving lesson in a real environment, within the internal road network of the Porsche test track, alongside a DSA qualified instructor.

We are very fortunate to be able to have a stand there (we are the only ones!). We were honoured to welcome our Group President Andy Hunt to our stand (left in photo with Steve Groves and Alan Brown).

Did you hear our Chair on Greatest Hits radio?

We were recently contacted by Greatest Hits Radio Northamptonshire to make some comments regarding the fact that the RAC had announced that the two weeks after the clocks change they see a rise in traffic collisions.

Steve Groves did a great job discussing the need to check your lights, tyres etc and also be aware of the vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians, as they are not always aware of the need to be seen and can wear darker clothing.

Steve’s sound bites were played on the 7, 8, 9 and 10 AM news bulletins after which they then had clips from the Northants Safer Roads Team.

Three in a Car

Four keen members turned up for our three-in-a-car event, but when we arrived the gates to Dobbies were closed so we all had to park in the Harlestone Firs parking. Apparently the gates were open the day before when Arthur mistakenly turned up 24 hours earlier!!

We decided to all bundle into one car, with David electing (or being elected!) to go first. He took us on a nice route up through Holdenby, East Haddon, across the A428, up to Upper Brington, left at the church then right to join up with Carriage Drive. This then follows Althorp’s perimeter wall (with a viewing place to see Althorp where David kindly slowed down for us!), and eventually back to the A428 and Dobbies – where the main gate was still shut. Thinking they would be open (only about 35 minutes until official opening), David pulled into the entrance, where there was a car already waiting to go in – and without looking that driver started reversing towards us!!

By this time the Harlestone Heath car parking was filling up so David ended up driving almost the whole length before getting parked. A quick debrief which mostly focussed around which gear was used, how David made progress, and the overtaking of a horse trailer (very conveniently going along the only long stretch with great view of the road towards Holdenby!)

We all piled out of David’s car, and after a bit of a walk ☺ all piled into Rod’s car as he volunteered to go next. Rod decided to use the same route but in reverse (no not going backwards, but doing the route in the reverse order). We got back at 10.16, and bearing in mind that Dobbies officially opens at 10.30, we assumed the gates would be open. Yes, you are right, they were still closed and the same car that had nearly reversed into David was sill waiting!! This time there were no spaces in the Harlestone Heath car park, and we were getting hungry! We decided to go on up to the golf club at Lower Harlestone who do a great breakfast!

It is very nice there, the club house has great views over the golf course and lake. Once we had our food, we remembered that we had not debriefed following Rod’s drive. Again the discussion focussed on gears and the differences between the two drives so far completed.

Now feeling human again after breakfast, Rod drove us back to Dobbies – where at last the gate was open! This time it was the turn of the automatics! I went first and decided to do a cut down version of David’s original route. At the same place where David encountered the horse trailer, I encountered a cyclist so was able to do an overtake! I added in a detour through the village of Holdenby but when we drove through East Haddon I decided to turn left onto the A428 and go direct back to Dobbies. Again a bit of a debrief/discussion (and a play with some of the electronic gizmos on my car), we then said goodbye to David who was off to Birmingham, and all bundled into Arthur’s car. This time it was another automatic, a Volvo. Arthur had done some pre-planning and took us on a very different route, going towards Nobottle, then through Flore, past Upper Heyford, over the M1 and along the A4500. Rod and I both thought Arthur was planning to go up Sandy Lane back to Dobbies, and brow beat him into turning into Harpole as Sandy Lane is closed. Turns out Arthur had planned a different route – but was very good and followed ours instead! When we got back to Dobbies we had another good discussion, this time about the use of an automatic gearbox.

It was an excellent morning, and really interesting to see that while we each drove using the System of Car control we each had very different styles of driving.

We will be running another three-in-a-car session in 2024, so watch this space!

Observer Meeting September

Our Observer held on 12 September was very well attended. David Reeves had prepared a presentation on electric vehicles and what observers will need to be cognisant of. He began by running through some of the different variants to be found on our roads.

David asked what are the actual differences between driving an electric vehicle, and what do we (our observers) need to be mindful of when taking an Associate member out.

One of the main differences a driver will find is greater force at low speed, with instant torque. Unlike a normally aspirated vehicle that is poor at pulling away and has its best pulling power at mid-range, the electric car’s sweet spot is right at the beginning,. Some electric vehicles (EVs) have motor at each wheel which gives maximum torque when you first pull away.

The System of Car Control will be different (IPSGA) as EVs have no gears, unlike automatic vehicles where if required a lower/higher gear can be selected.

A lot of discussion took place over regenerative braking which is a key difference between an electric vehicle and a normally aspirated one. Regenerative braking is where the kinetic energy from momentum is pushed back into recharging the battery. When you take your foot off the accelerator, it feels like you are braking as this is the point where regenerative braking kicks in – it will slow the vehicle down (how much is dependent upon make/model). In some models you can adjust how much regeneration (and therefore slowing down) you have. Therefore, there is much more control just on the accelerator. While regenerative braking your brake lights will show to those behind you.

Hybrids and mild hybrids also use regenerative braking.

There then followed a discussion on the potential issues that an observer could encounter when observing an Associate with an EV.

All our observers were asked to “Wear Your Blue Shirts” as we wanted a group photo showing off our new polo shirts! This photo above is what we ended up with!!

Now Carole (front) had an excuse as we had not managed to get any ladies size polo shirts, and Rod B (1st left), Alex (3rd left) and Chris (5th right) are trainee observers so have not been issued their polo-shirts yet so can also be ‘let off’. The rest, well, what can we say!!!!!!

Seriously, they are a lovely group who all give up many many hours to help our Associates reach Test standard.

August Classroom Session

While we use the same presentation for all our classroom sessions we never know which way the discussions will go!

This time headlight flashing was a topic of interest, with many examples of different uses motorists make of headlight flashing including warning other drivers of speed cameras; to let another driver know they are letting them in; on motorways/dual carriageways to tell the HGV/caravan etc that they are passed their car and can pull in. In reality, headlight flashing only has one legal use, and that is to let other road users know you are there. We should always let the other drivers use their own judgement on whether to pull out etc. HGV drivers are now taught not to flash headlights for any other reason that to let another driver know they are there.

This led to discussion about using hazard waning lights, which should only be used to warn others if we are stationery and causing a potentially dangerous obstruction, or if on a motorway/unrestricted dual carriageway to alert following drivers of a hazard or obstruction ahead. A question was raised about using hazard lights if you are on a smart motorway and your car looses power. However this may confuse other drivers so would be better to use left signal to show you are trying to get across to lane 1.

The final part of the classroom session covers us. How we process information and the things that can impair that information processing. These include poor eyesight, illness, alcohol/drugs, distractions (mobile phones, passengers), long term stress (relationships, work), and short term stress (traffic jams, too hot, late for work). If affected by any of these, try to remove the cause or remove yourself.

While our Observers can encourage skills to improve driving (prediction of what may happen, observation, decision making and using the physical controls of the vehicle), our mental attitude is also key to safer advanced driving. We need a desire and willingness to improve, the ability to self evaluate and an increased awareness of external factors. Clearly all our Associate members are demonstrating the first of these by undertaking the Advanced Driving Course!

Rushden Classic Car Show

Following the great weather at the Heart of Shires event, we hit it lucky again with the excellent Rushden Classic Car and Bike Show on Sunday 6th August. The day before had been a complete wash-out for events such as Blakesley Agricultural Show and the British Moto GP at Silverstone, the Sunday turned out to be sunny ice cream weather!

Steve Groves and Howard Main turned up really early, with Steve towing our unit as the trade stands had to be on site at 7.30am! Our unit looked lovely and clean as Steve cleaned it the day before! This is the second time we had been to Rushden, and again we had a steady stream of people genuinely interested in becoming a safer driver. There were very few times where there was no-one looking at our stand. Jane Monk developed an excellent way of attracting people who would otherwise have walked by!

For some reason at Rushden (and nowhere else!), we had a large number of parents with teenagers in tow think our Young Drivers banner meant we were some type of under-17 car club where their offspring could experience driving – we spent a lot of time telling people about CarKraft (the non-driver sessions)! We equally spent sometime talking about the NSRA’s mature Drivers Roadshow being held at Rushden in early September!

Last year we were placed next to Ian Phillips (our Associate Officer) craft tent selling his wonderful hand crafted wooden objects – this year we asked to be next to him!! Two slots further down was a “The Cheesecake Lady” selling individual cheesecake offering from their red trailer. It was early in the morning when Ian came across and asked if we could lend the cheesecake stall our generator as theirs had broken. No problem, however our generator did not have the right connector for their fridge but never ones to give up Ian and Steve came up with a solution using extension cables from us right down to the cheesecake stall! Apparently the cheesecakes were very nice!

We bumped into a number of our members who were visiting and even one who was exhibiting their lovely Mini. There were over 400 cars and motorbikes, ranging from a few pre-war through to more recent cars.

Thank you to Howard Main, Jane Monk, Rene Crevel, Steve Groves, Henny Cameron, Nick Moodie, Rod Baker and Philip de Clermont.

PR at Heart of the Shires Shopping Village

Back in June, a time when the sun was shining, we took our display unit to the Heart of Shires Shopping village near Weedon on the A5 for a publicity event.

This was the second time we had been to the Heart of Shires, the first being when unfortunately the A5 was closed for repairs and very few people visited. Now if you have been on a Saturday, you will know that it is normally a thriving place with plenty of footfall. Not the Saturday we chose!

It was very quiet – even some of the shopkeepers we spoke with said they had never known it to be so quiet. Having said that we still managed to talk to a lot of people and give away some of our new keyrings and sticky-note pads!

It was really great to have so many members come to help on the stand – Arthur Hawker, Caroline Conway Hook, David Reeves, Jane Monk, Aidan Ward, Gordon Johns, Colin Mynott, Steve Groves and Henny Cameron. Special mention to Jane who had her Advanced Test the following day – and passed! Also to Colin who prepared a number of questions to ask members of the public to gain their interest. Finally to Caroline for cleaning the front of our unit!

As you can see from the photo, Steve demonstrated that he had hidden skills (hidden from Rita his wife!) – he can handle a broom very effectively.

Although quiet, it was a good day, we chatted to a number of people, and you never know when you have planted the seed in their minds that they would like to take their driving to another level. It may be next month or a year or so before they take up the challenge, but at least they know about us!

All in all, it was a great day, with plenty of fun as well as the serious business of promoting advanced driving and ourselves to the general public.

10-Pin Bowling

On a very hot June evening we met up at the 10-pin bowling alley at Sixfields, Northampton. It was very clear very quickly that we fell into two main groups, those who were there just to have a good time, and those who wanted to win!!

We had two lanes for a couple of hours which mean that it worked out nicely with four players in each lane, and me the hanger on taking photos!

The main rivalry took place in lane one between Howard Main and Steve Groves, but Steve did keep checking across to the second lane where Rod Wyles and Paul were having their own battle!
After the first session, Howard was way out front with 111, Steve second with 97 and Rod (who organised the event) 3rd with 79. The intensity of Lane one increased in the second session, with Steve making great strides in catching Howard, however Howard managed just to stay ahead, winning by one point!

Rod’s wife, Lynne, had baked some amazing cup cakes for us all which went down a treat – thank you Lynne.

As well as the winners trophy that Steve presented to Howard, Steve also present a prize to Rita, his wife, for the lowest score (although that position was also hotly contested!!).

RoadPeace Day – 20th May 2023

We were invited to take part in the RoadPeace Day being held in Abington Park, Northampton. Organised by PC Emelie Bunkall of the Road Policing Unit, the day was part of the national RoadPeace Challenge 2023.

RoadPeace is the national charity for road crash victims in the UK. They provide information and support services to people bereaved or seriously injured in road crashes and engage in evidence based policy and campaigning work to fight for justice for victims and reduce road danger.

You may recall last year that Emilie walked every day of the national RoadPeace week, each of the seven routes across the county which had all been the location of a road death, including that of her mother whom died in a road crash in 2013.

This year Emelie organised a RoadPeace day in Abington Park, including the Roads Policing Unit, CarKraft, Northants Fire and Rescue, Wickes Roads safety HGV, a horse/rider (to demonstrate the safe stopping distance), safety camera team and others. She also created an area that represented the 1,572 peopled killed seriously injured or injured on Northants roads in 2022. The black cars, pedestrians, motorcycles, cycle, passengers and scooter represent each fatality, whilst grey doves represented the seriously injured and flags the injured.

Another Year Passes

April saw us hold our annual AGM for the group, which was held at the excellent Moulton Community Centre in Moulton Village.

As you will have guessed by now I was kindly voted on as Chairman of our group for a second year.
Along with the committee and the team we aim to continue to grow the group and maintain the success it has built up over the years.

At a recent Mature drivers event I had contact with South Northants First Responders who were also exhibiting and they may be interested in either having advanced training or invite us to do a talk about advanced driving at one of their training days. I also met a member of the Fiat Abarth owners cub and they are going to invite me to one of their meets to discuss the benefits of advanced driving.
One of my main aims for this year will be to continue to try and grow the social side of the group, with the aim to encourage more of us to get together as a group on occasions for social events and general chats with likeminded people.

We have run a couple of events so far this year, more of which you can read about in this newsletter.
Hopefully I will see you at some of the events arranged this year.

I am writing this article on the weekend of the Coronation of King Charles III and one of the messages form this is about the Big Help and encouraging volunteers to help with local communities and charities and many other role.

Don’t forget The IAM is a charitable foundation and the local groups are run by volunteers and we are always happy for volunteers to be on the committee and train as observers. If you are interested then please contact myself or a member of the committee for further information.
Steve Groves, Group Chairman

Classroom Session

We have held a number of classroom sessions since we last reported.

Our March session was a lively affair with a number of trainee observers attending as well. An interesting discussion on the flashing of had lights took place. The Rules 110 and 111 of the Highway Code state “Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there. Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users.” and “Never assume that flashing headlights is a signal inviting you to proceed. Use your own judgement and proceed carefully.” There are times when a pragmatic use of flashing head lights may be of benefit to warn others of a hazard (not a speed camera van!), such as horses or a traffic collision. On of our trainee observers is a driving instructor, and he commented that if you are in situation where priority is not clear, and you can see the car waiting to come in the other direction is a learner driver, do not flash for them to come through. You may think you are being considerate, however it often takes a learner driver a bit of time to get the car going, and it puts pressure on them thinking you are waiting so they may get panicked and stall the engine etc!

Braking distance was also on the agenda! The kinetic energy of your car (weight of vehicle x speed squared) means that if you double your speed you are quadrupling your braking distance. The average reaction time is between 0.6 and 1.6 seconds, which is made up of seeing the hazard, making the decision to brake, and actually activating the brakes.

With driver training we will make better decisions and improve our reaction time through anticipation. For example, we drive the same route to work each day, and there is a little used side road. One day a car pulls out from this junction into our path. Our subconscious brain will think this is not happening, it has never happened before. It needs to get over the shock that it has happened before we can react. However, as advanced drivers we are anticipating that a vehicle will appear out of the junction, so do not have the time delay of the subconscious thought process before we made a decision and react.

2023 AGM Report

We held our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 19th April at Moulton Community Centre, which turned out to be an excellent venue.

The minutes of last year’s AGM were presented by Jack Foreman and accepted as a true record.

Our Chair, Steve Groves, reported that our Group is recovering strongly towards pre-Covid levels. He also reported that at the end of last year our Group had 110 full member 37 associates and 1 honorary member. In the same year we recruited 33 new associates (that’s up by 5 on the previous year) and had 21 test passes, up by 11 on the previous year.

Steve also said a huge thank you to all our volunteer Observers and committee members for their time and efforts over the past year to help us reach these numbers and long may it continue.

He explained that in this year so far, from 1st February 2023, we have recruited 9 associates and had 8 passes. So it looks like we are trending in the same direction as last year and hopefully we will be dong more promotion days now things are back to normal.

On the promotional side so far this year we have secured spaces at the Lowick village fete and car show on the 4th of June, Heart of the Shires near Weedon on the 24th June, Rushden Classic car show in August and then we have 2 Mature driver events alongside the Keith Millard and his team in the Northants Safer Roads Alliance in May and September and two CarKraft events at Silverstone with Keith and his team in October and November.

One of Steve’s main aims as Chairman is to raise the social side of the group and Rod Wyles has worked hard sourcing events that members can attend socially with like minded people and have a good chat over a beer or coffee or breakfast.

So far this year in February we attended the Phipps brewery in Northampton and after a hearty Sunday roast we were treated to a guided tour and of the brewery and given the history of the brewery and brewing in Northamptonshire all for the sum of £20 pound for a pleasant afternoon and some nice beer samples.

Recently Aidan Ward kindly put on a first aid evening at Northampton University which was fully booked and was an educational evening and covered basic life support and what to do when first on scene at an accident. It was a really informative and enjoyable evening with lots of hands on practise of CPR.
Please keep an eye on the newsletter and bulletins for future events and again if there is anything you would like to do please speak to Rod.

Henny Cameron, Treasurer, then reported that our finances are in a healthy position, with an overall profit of £1,453.84. This means we are able to add another £1,000 to our Display unit replacement fund which now stands at £7,000. Henny then went through the items with significant differences to the previous year, of which there were many due to the Group being more active this year!

In the election of Officers and Committee members, Steve Groves (Chair), and Henny Cameron (Treasurer) were re-elected (the three officers have to be elected annually). Jack Foreman stood down from the role of Secretary but there were no nominations so this role remained vacant.

With the end of formal business a number of awards were made. The main award, our Caithness Rosebowl was awarded to Ian Phillips (see photo).

Steve also presented Test Pass certificates to the following:

• • Howard Main
  • Gillian Momi
  • Caroline Conway-Hook
  • Julia Weatherall

Finally Steve made presentations to David Reeves for his major contribution to our classroom sessions, Aidan Ward for running our first aid evening, and to Henny Cameron for her ongoing support.

First Aid Training

We are exceptionally lucky to have Aidan Ward in our midst. Not only is Aidan one of our National Observers but he is also a Senior Lecturer in Paramedic Science and a Paramedic, Advanced Practitioner/ECP. Even more lucky in that Aidan is willing to give up his free time to host a First Aid Evening at the University of Northampton for us.

Due to the space in the training room (it is a big room but also houses the full sized backend of an ambulance!), the event was limited to 12 attendees.

Aidan started off with the principles if you are the first on the scene of an incident, whether it be a collapsed person, a road traffic collision etc. The first thing to consider is Safety.

Aidan showed us how to spot a life threatening bleed (catastrophic haemorrhage), as the casualty could have a fast heart rate, be pale/clammy, have an increased breathing rate or feel dizzy. If they have a catastrophic haemorrhage, position – expose – examine – pressure (peep). That is, if possible lie the casualty flat, find and uncover the bleed site, check it, then apply pressure direct to the wound. If the wound is on a limb, then elevate the limb to reduce the blood flow.

We also learnt basic life support, how to check if the casualty is breathing. We leant how to open an airway, and then to check if this results in the casualty breathing again. We were shown how to perform CPR (chest compressions not mouth to mouth), with the number of compressions needed as between 100-120 per minute.

Aidan also showed us some horrific statistics regarding survival rate of cardiac arrests when they occur in the community, around 8% survival if no CPR/defibrillator used, rising to about 15% of CPR and defibrillator used.

Aidan also showed us a number of other key first aid methods including how to stop both an adult and child choking, how to remove a motorcycle helmet (only to be done if the casualty is not breathing) and how to put a casualty in the recovery position. Apparently, according to Ian Phillips, removing a helmet in this way is very painful on the ears! Robert, Ian’s son, did seem to enjoy removing the helmet during the demo!

As you can see from the photos, we were able to practice the techniques.

This was an excellent evening, many thanks to Aidan for all his hard work. He made a serious subject easy to understand and remember.

We can Organise a ****-up in a brewery

On 19th February Rod Wyles organised a tour of the Phipps NBC Brewery in Northampton.

The trip stated with a delicious Sunday roast with a choice of meats (or veggie options) in the main bar area and washed down with a pint of one of their finest ales or soft drink for the designated drivers.
After lunch, despite wanting to fall asleep, we moved into the brewing room for the talk about the fascinating history of the brewery and the art of making the beers.

The Phipps brewery still stands on one of the original sites in Northampton and was rebuilt using British built equipment, some of it being from former breweries after being restored.

Although most people think Northampton is mainly a boot and shoe town I was surprised to learn that in years gone by it was also famous for the number or breweries that were in the town. A lot of this is down to the underground wells that still exist to this day and are in constant use by Phipps and Carlsberg for brewing.

The breweries were set up mainly by local farming families around Northamptonshire with Towcester farmer Pickering Phipps starting the company in Towcester in 1801. Over the years breweries were brought out and merged with other local breweries, until in 1960 Phipps NBC was brought out by one of the giants of brewing Watney Mann.

Eventually an employee of new owners Grand Metropolitan who happened to be a distant relative of the Phipps family realised that Phipps was still owned by them and brought the name for Grand Metropolitan and the brewery was revived.

The tour went on to explain how different brews are made along with small tasters being made available as the talk continued. The tour finished with a visit to the storage areas in the cellar where 2 tunnels still remain and are used for storage of the full kegs of beer to this day. Amazingly these tunnels keep a constant temperature whatever the weather is outside. Newer storage areas have to be temperature controlled to maintain this.

The tour finished with a voucher to have another drink in the bar.

This was a great afternoon for a minimal cost which I would recommend to anyone. If we can get enough interest I am sure Rod be happy to arrange another tour some time.

Classroom Session January 2023

We hold our Associate classroom sessions approximately every six weeks, our most recent one was on 21st January.

These sessions form an important part of our Associates journey to passing their Advanced Driving test. It is a chance to learn the theory of advanced driving techniques in the safe classroom environment – with tea and biscuits!

Each classroom session seems to throw up different discussions, and this one was no exception. This time there was a good discussion on overtaking, especially with regard to cyclists and horses.
We covered the issue of overtaking on narrow country roads where there was little opportunity to be able to pass with at least 1.5m clear space. The issues of staying behind the cyclist for potentially miles were raised such as how to deal with the angry/impatient driver behind you. Conversely, coming up behind a peloton of cyclists on a major road also has its issues, as although the Highway Code says cyclists “can ride two abreast” there is no law regarding this and the cyclists could be two or three abreast in a large group! The answer is to treat them like one large vehicle and overtake all in one manoeuvre.

Driving an electric vehicle raises another aspect that impacts overtaking cyclists and horses, and that is thee silent approach. For cyclists a short friendly beep may be appropriate so they know you are there, however we may need to show more restraint with horses as any sort of beep would be inappropriate.

Other topics and weird facts that came up during the session included if you double your speed, you are quadrupling its kinetic energy.

If you are desperate for the toilet, the effect on your driving is the same as being over the drink/drive level.

Brothers Pass Advanced Tert on Same Day

Two brothers have passed their Advanced Driving Tests on the same day!

Young Drivers, Tommy Gardner (19) and Scott Gardner (18), from Wellingborough, have been undergoing drives with Northampton Advanced Motorists observer and Chair, Steve Groves.

As well as drives with Steve, the two have taken advantage of the monthly checkdrive sessions and the classroom session.

Both were deemed to be at advanced level and their Advanced Tests requested. Not only did the two tests come through for the same day, they were back to back with the same examiner, Andy Giddings.
Scott went first and passed – the pressure was then on for Tommy! Tommy took it in his stride and also passed!

The brothers commented “We are brothers we do everything together, including improving our driving skills!”

Steve Groves, their mentor said “it was a pleasure to be Tommy and Scott’s observer and be able to get them ready for their Advanced driving test. I had a lot of fun using sibling rivalry to encourage them to advance standard.

It’s great to see two young drivers taking these steps to learn new skills to make them safer drivers and improve road safety for themselves and other road users”

A massive congratulations to Scott and Tommy on this excellent achievement, a first for Northampton Advanced Motorists. Both Scott and Tommy are young drivers (under 26) so have now received a £100 refund each on their IAM RoadSmart Driving Course, as part of our Young Drivers Scheme.

The Young Driver Scheme is funded by a grant from the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner that provides drivers under 26 years old passing the advanced test with Northampton Advanced Motorists a refund of £100 of the £175 Advanced Driving Course fee.

Stephen Mold said: “Far too many people lose their lives, or are injured, on the roads of this county every year and I will do everything I can to support activities that reduce that terrible toll. That’s why I am happy to support this brilliant scheme from Northampton Advanced Motorists, which aims to teach young people the habits that should take them safely through a lifetime of driving. I’m so proud of Scott and Tommy, for starting off on the right path – great result for them both.”

If you are interested in the young driver scheme, please book a free taster drive https://northampton-iam.org.uk/book-free-taster/ or contact

Classroom Sessions

We hold our Associate classroom sessions approximately every six weeks. They are about 2.5 hours long, including break, and we provide tea and biscuits!!

These sessions form an important part of our Associates journey to passing their Advanced Driving test. It is a chance to learn about the reasons for the five stages of IPSGA, new techniques for overtaking and techniques such as limit points. Being in a classroom setting, it gives a chance to explore these different techniques and ask questions while not sitting on you car on an observes run! David Reeves even has some model cars he demonstrates some of the techniques with – not sure if this is just so he can play with the cars!!!

The questions raised during the session are varied, and often have not been raised in a classroom before. I sit in on each session and am always surprised at the different things that are discussed and the things I learn each time. This time it was about the braking required (or lack of) on electric cars.

There is also an option for a demonstration drive after the session so you can see the techniques being put into action.

They are well worth attending, either if you have not attended before, or if you want to a brush up before your test. We also welcome Full members who would like to sit in for a refresher.

We Won!!

Back in May this year, IAM RoadSmart announced a competition for Groups. “We want to see how impressive your exhibition stand is!“  they said. As it happened, just a few days later we had a stand at the NSRA Mature Drivers Roadshow, then we went to CarKraft. Before Covid we had taken our Unit to Stanwick Lakes so we sent a photo of this as well.

Then we went to Rushden Classic Car and Bike show so sent some photos of that as well!!

Whether it was our excellent stand – or the volume of photos we sent IAM RoadSmart!! – we won!! Our prize is £150 to spend in the IAM Shop.  We have used our winnings to buy a new pop-up banner, a couple of umbrellas for our Unity, and to kit our Observers out with an IAM RoadSmart woolly hat and ice scraper.

September Mature Driver Roadshow

In September, the Northants Safer Roads Alliance, of which are part, held their second Mature Drivers Roadshow, this time in Rushden.

If anyone has been to the Goods Shed in Rushden, you will know it is a very large space! Partly for this reason, and partly as the event in May was oversubscribed, it was decided to up the numbers to 75 per session (morning and afternoon). With limited advertising (the U3As, WI and on social media), the tickets soon began to go. This was encouraging, and after a few weeks almost half the tickets had gone. Then the event was put out on the electronic Neighbourhood watch scheme and bam! It was full!

The stands included crime and fire prevention, a healthcare company (who kindly baked hundreds of shortbread biscuits for the delegates), a Batak reaction time testing machine, a bar (not a real one, but one to show how much one unit of drink is etc), us, the British Horse Society, and RDAC/Driving Mobility who were able to bring their adapted vehicle into the venue! Also set up were two places where delegates could check their eyesight by reading a number plate at 20 metres.

The British Horse Society brought along a table top game based on Scalextric but set on country roads. The objective was to go round the track as SLOW as you could! It was hard!

Each session started off with a presentation done by Keith Millard (Road Safety, Keir) and Norman James (Northants Fire and Rescue). This included the importance of eyesight tests (and showing where they could check theirs), Smart motorways, the changes to the Highway Code (especially the Hierarchy of Road Users), the impact of prescription drugs, What3words and much more!

A great event, well attended, and aimed at enable older drivers driver safer for longer.

There will be another in 2023.

Rushden Classic Car & Bike Show

This year has also seen us resume our promotional activities as we spent a very hot Sunday in August at the Rushden Classic Car and Bike Show.

The show did not officially open until 11am, so it was quite a leisurely start to the morning with the first ’shift’ starting at 10.30am – well all but Steve Groves who was on site having towed our unit there by 7.30am!!  I was about to set off from home just before 9am, when I saw Steve had tweeted a photo of our unit, parked up, banners up, tables out, tablecloths on and leaflets out!

Steve had told me we were pitch 22 so I was able to find it very easily – being a big white unit amongst loads of gazebos helped!  I had not taken any notice of the stands next door, so I was surprised when Ian Philips, our Associate Officer, leapt out from the tent next door – he had been allocated pitch 21 as he was selling his beautifully crafted woodwork!!  Good news, as we shared our tea/coffee with Ian and his wife Anne, and they shared their hot donuts with us!!

It was so good to talk to members of the public face-face, explaining what we do and the benefits.  We were a little perplexed when so many people with teenagers came up to enquire about learning to drive until it dawned on us that they were reading our Young Drivers banner to mean we were some sort of under-17 driving club!

All the other trade stands had tents or gazebos, whereas we had our big white unit there.  I guess it was almost understandable why people thought from a distance we were the toilets, and were most disappointed when they got closer and realised we were not!  We had quite a few enquiries as to where the toilets were!!

The show was broadcasting music and interviews throughout the day, and they came and asked us if we would like to be interviewed.  We all volunteered Aidan, who was turned out to be a natural and did a great interview – so all those walking around the event have now heard about us!!

There were a lot of visitors from out of the area, some of which had come with their car to exhibit.  We had a number of people interested in doing the advanced test, especially under our Group young driver scheme, but it then turned out that they lived miles away so did not qualify for our scheme (as they would join their own local group).

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to support our stand – Aidan Ward, Alan Brown, Gordon Johns, Vicki Mynott, Colin Mynott, Henny, and of course, Steve Groves.

We will be at Raunds Festival of Transport on 3rd September – contact Steve if you are able to help.

August Checkdrives Cancelled

As we will be taking our unit to the Rushden Classic Car and Bike show on 7th August 2022, we will not be running our normal checkdrives in August.

Disappointed, then why not pop along to Rushden, enjoy looking round the classic cars and bikes, and com and say hello to us as well!

Andy Cox RoadPeace Challenge

If you follow social media you will probably have seen the Andy Cox RoadPeace Challenge that has been ongoing during 16^th – 22nd May.  Andy Cox is a Detective Chief Superintendent at Lincolnshire police, but prior to that he was at Northants police and was our Group President.  He has been trying to Influence change & reduce road danger saving life  and raise money for RoadPeace who do amazing work supporting crash victims & bereaved families.

As well as Andy, many many people have joined in across the country including Jeremy Vine, and Dame Sarah Storey.  In his county, police officer Emilie Bunkall has been walking various different routes all week (mainly retracing the last route taken people who had died in a road crash).

It was great to meet Emilie when she walked from Towcester to Silverstone.

CarKraft: 21st May 2022

CarKraft – wow, what  a great experience for young drivers – and its free!  Where else can drivers under 30 years old get to experience skidding and an ice kick plate, learn about HGV blind spots by being in the cab themselves, do a drive with a police officer beside them to give advice, and attend a lifesaving practical driving skills/workshops!

Young Non-Drivers get to have their first driving lesson in a real environment, together with a workshop looking at important safety aspects covering drink driving, mobile phones and distractions.

The whole event is held at the Porche Experience Centre, Silverstone Racetrack, so in the small amount of free time there are a serious amount of Porche’s to look at.  And of course, we were there!

The first CarKraft of this year was held on 21^st May.  Steve Groves had arranged a rota to support our stand throughout the day, but our first problem was when he went to pick up our PR materials from our Unit, it had disappeared!  A bit of detection work and it was found!  Our sister Group, Northamptonshire Bike Group, use our unit as well and we had agreed for them to take it to Rugby BikeFest on 22^nd May – but they decided to take it a day early to give it a good clean!

We got our stand set up (we are the only stand at CarKraft!), and throughout the day had considerable interest from both the young drivers attending, and the parents of the non-drivers attending!

It is a really good event, and if you are a young driver, we would seriously recommend you attending the next one, planned for July (see https://www.carkraft.info/).

FREE CarKraft places available (for drivers under 30 years old)

Do you know a young driver under 30? If so, then sign them up for the FREE CarKraft event @ Silverstone on 21st May

They will learn invaluable, potentially lifesaving new skills with  a mix of dynamic workshops and driving challenges, which will enhance your skills by helping to make you a better, safer driver.

To book your FREE place visit www.carkraft.info

New Chairman

As stated in our AGM report, we have a new Chair.  John Norrie decided to step down from being our Chairman this year following eleven years of excellent vision and leadership.

Our new Chair elected at the AGM is Steve Groves.  Steve has been a committee member for almost three years, and has been our publicity event officer.  We are all looking forward to a new era with Steve in charge, and although it is only a couple of days since our AGM, he is already formulating his plans for the next year.

John was awarded our Caithness Rosebowl for his sterling work (John on left of photo, Steve on right).

2022 AGM

After two years of holding our AGM over Zoom, we held our 2022 AGM (5th April) as a face-face meeting (our first face-face meeting since Covid!).  It was great seeing Full and Associate members attending, and they were treated to a fairly quick formal business, followed by very informative question and answer session with Andy Giddings, one of our local examiners.  We did have a bit of a ‘user’ problem with the lights which meant the formal business was conducted in ever decreasing light!

Our Chair, John Norrie, formally opened the AGM, and pointed out it was our first face-face meeting since the start of COVID.  John explained that we started one-one drives in June 2022 followed by our Sunday drives in October.  We still hold our committee meetings via Zoom, and John said “We still find that the committee meetings morph into ‘who can tell the best/worst joke after the formal business has been concluded” – what he didn’t say is that he started it, and still has possibly the worst jokes – as demonstrated at the AGM!

I did a very brief Treasurers report in which I presented the income and expenditure, and balance sheets – if was briefer than I anticipated as by this time it was so dark in the room I couldn’t read my notes (and I suspect no-one could read the printed accounts handed round).  Suffice it to say we finished 2021/22 in the financially healthy position of having a £1,347 profit, of which we have ring-fenced £1,000 into our Display Unit replacement fund (which now stands at £6,000).

The election of officers and committee members then took place.  As you will know from our previous newsletters, after 11 years at the helm, John Norrie decided to stand down as Chair and from the committee.   We had one nomination to be the new Chair, and Steve Groves was duly elected.  Jack Foreman was re-elected as Secretary, and I was re-electd as Treasurers. In addition to the here officers above that need to be re-elected each year, committee members are elected for a 3-year term.  David Reeves, Colin Tarry, Ian Phillips and Alan Brown were all re-elected.  There were no volunteers from the floor to join the committee, however we do need an events officer, so if you think you may be the person to do this, please contact Steve Groves.

Henny Cameron, Group Treasurer

Observed Drives Restarting

It has been a long time coming, almost 14 months, but we are really pleased to announce we will be starting our face-face observed drives again.

We have taken the decision to start slowly with a small number of Observers and Associates from 17th May to see how that goes, and on the assumption that COVID-19 rates stay low, we will resume fully on 21st June.

Alan Brown will be contacting all our Observers to decide who will start on 17th May, and then will contact our Associate members.  We have taken the decision to give priority to those Associates who had already started their training before Lockdown.

Click here for guidance to Associates from IAM RoadSmart.

Observed Drives – Still Suspended

We are disappointed to announce that we will not be resuming observed drives.  We have been  carefully monitoring Public Health England statistics, and taking specialist advice from one of our observers who also happens to be Senior Lecturer in Paramedic Science at the University of Northampton.  At the end of August we were cautiously optimistic that we could restart observed drives at the beginning of October.  We canvassed the views of our current Associates, where the majority were in favour of restarting drives, and we purchased PPE for our Observers in the expectation we would resume drives.

However, with the COVID-19 Rate per 100,000 population increasing in all Northamptonshire areas in this last week, we have just taken the decision not to resume observed drives during October.  We will revisit the decision on 26th October with the hope that the situation will be more stable.

We know that our Associate members (and our Observers) will be disappointed with this decision, but we have not taken it lightly.  We will keep you updated.  If you have any comments or suggestions please email us at newsletter@northampton-iam.org.uk

Proposed Changes to the Highway Code

There is currently a consultation being conducted to review the Highway Code, to improve road safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.  This open consultation closes on the 27^th of October.

The main alterations to the code being proposed are: introducing a hierarchy of road users which ensures that those road users who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat they may pose to others.  To clarify existing rules on pedestrian priority on pavements, to advise that drivers and riders should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross the road, providing guidance on cyclist priority at junctions to advise drivers to give priority to cyclists at junctions when travelling straight ahead and establishing guidance on safe passing distances and speeds when overtaking cyclists and horse riders.

Some samples of the proposed text are as follows.  The ‘Hierarchy of Road Users’ is a concept which places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision at the top of the hierarchy. The road users most likely to be injured in the event of a collision are pedestrians, in particular children, older adults and disabled people, followed by cyclists, horse riders and motorcyclists. The hierarchy does not remove the need for everyone to behave responsibly.

You should not cut across cyclists going ahead when turning into or out of a junction or changing direction or lane, just as you would not turn across the path of another motor vehicle. This applies whether cyclists are using a cycle lane, a cycle track, or riding ahead on the road and you should give way to them.

Cyclists’ should ride in single file when drivers wish to overtake and it is safe to let them do so. When riding in larger groups on narrow lanes, it is sometimes safer to ride two abreast.

Give motorcyclists, cyclists, horse riders and horse drawn vehicles at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211 to 215). As a guide:

• leave a minimum distance of 1.5 metres at speeds under 30 mph
• leave a minimum distance of 2.0 metres at speeds over 30 mph
• for a large vehicle, leave a minimum distance of 2.0 metres in all conditions
• pass horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles at speeds under 15 mph and allow at least 2.0 metres space
• allow at least 2.0 metres space where a pedestrian is walking in the road (e.g. where there is no pavement) and you should pass them at low speed
• you should wait behind the motorcyclist, cyclist, horse rider, horse drawn vehicle or pedestrian and not overtake if it is unsafe or not possible to meet these clearances
• take extra care and give more space when overtaking motorcyclists, cyclists, horse riders, horse drawn vehicles and pedestrians in bad weather (including high winds) and at night.

These are just some samples of the text proposed, there is much more detail in the document which you can see online.

John Norrie – Chairman

Observed Drives – Proposed restart

We have just held another meeting regarding restarting our observed drives.  We have been monitoring Public Health England data and the infection rate is on a downward trend in our area.

On the basis that this downward trend continues we are proposing to restart observed drives from 5th October.   IAM RoadSmart have provided guidance for Associates and Observers which we will follow.  At this point we are working out which Associates and which Observers would be comfortable re-starting observed drives.

We have purchased PPE for our Observers so will be ready for the 5th October.  We will do a final review of the situation on 28th September.

The End of the MOT Extension

Due to the current pandemic, drivers were granted a six months extension of their MOT certificate, if it was due after 30th March. This ended on 31st July.  This means that any MOT due on, or after the 1st of August, will not qualify for an extension.  As at all times, you are required to keep the vehicle in a safe condition.  It may be unsafe even if it has a current MOT certificate.  You can be fined up to £2,500, be banned from driving and get 3 penalty points for driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition.

When your vehicle is tested, it will fail if there are any ‘dangerous’ or ‘major’ problems.  You might also get a list of ‘minor’ or ‘advisory’ problems to monitor or fix in the future. You’ll get a ‘refusal of an MOT test certificate’ from the test centre and it will be recorded in the MOT database.  You can take your vehicle away if your current MOT certificate is still valid and no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed.  Otherwise, you’ll need to get it repaired before you can drive.  If you can take your vehicle away, it must still meet the minimum standards of roadworthiness at all times.

When your car is retested after a repair, in some cases, it can have a partial retest for free or a reduced MOT fee.  You only need a partial retest if you leave the vehicle at the test centre for repair and it’s retested within 10 working days. There’s no fee for this.  You can take your vehicle away for repair if your MOT certificate is still valid.  If your MOT has run out you can take your vehicle to have the failed defects fixed or to a pre-arranged MOT test appointment.  In both cases, your vehicle still needs to meet the minimum standards of roadworthiness at all times or you can be fined.  You will not have to pay again if you take it back to the same test centre before the end of the next working day for a partial retest after a repair.  You’ll only need a partial retest if you take the vehicle from the test centre for repairs and take it back within 10 working days. You can be charged a partial retest fee for this.  In all other cases, you’ll need to get a full retest and pay the full MOT test fee again.  It is possible to appeal the initial failure if you think the result is wrong.

 John Norrie, Group Chairman

Checkdrives – Still on Hold

We have been meeting regularly to evaluate the risk of restarting our face to face checkdrives and free taster drives.  We have been extremely well supported by Aidan Ward, who as well as being an observer for our group, is Senior Lecturer in Paramedic Science at University of Northampton and a practising paramedic.

The main issue is the COVID rate in our main catchment area (Northampton) is considerably higher than the national rate.  At the time of writing (18th August), Northampton has 122.9 cases per 100,000 people which is highest in the whole of England, the outbreak at Greencore contributes to this.

At the moment we have decided that the risk is too great, but will keep you informed.

We will also be holding an online session with our Observers to understand their views and what we would need to have in place to be able to restart checkdrives.

Smart Motorways Webinar

In this webinar David Reeves, our Observer Trainer, covered the different types of motorway including Ramp metering, Variable mandatory speed limits, controlled motorways, dynamic motorways and all lane running motorways.

He covered how the different types of motorways are monitored, the safety and risk aspects to the different style of motorways.  He raised some important questions such as how if you break down, how you safely exit an emergency refuge area.

Missed this webinar – catch up on our YouTube channel using this link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ZUrhWYC7LvbXm1-BOhhsQ/

Junctions and Roundabouts Webinar

The third of our webinars (11 July) covered how to safely enter, negotiate and leave junctions and roundabouts while executing the ‘planning to stop but looking for information to go’ approach of advanced drivers.

David Reeves, our Observer Trainer, covered the multitude of different roundabouts that proliferate our roads including through-abouts, mini-roundabouts, concentric, spiral, turbo, and dumbbell roundabouts, and of course, Spaghetti junction.  He described what they were trying to achieve and how to safely negotiate them.

Missed this webinar – catch up on our YouTube channel using this link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ZUrhWYC7LvbXm1-BOhhsQ/

Overtaking Webinar

David Reeves, our Observer Trainer, pointed out that overtaking on a single carriageway is the most dangerous but least taught skill.  There is potentially a closing speed head to head of 120+mph and 90% head on collisions are fatal.

He discusses why drivers are scared of overtaking, and then covered how to overtake safely, including the internal dialog in your head, and how to judge the distance required.  Also covered were rolling overtakes and staged overtakes.

Missed this webinar – catch up on our YouTube channel using this link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ZUrhWYC7LvbXm1-BOhhsQ/

Introducing the System Webinar

Held on 6th June, this was a comprehensive webinar cover the system of car control – IPSGA.  The individual elements of the system (information, position, speed, gear, acceleration) were discussed in detail then applied to different scenarios.

The history of how The System developed and the subject of signalling/not signalling were also discussed.

Missed this webinar – catch up on our YouTube channel using this link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ZUrhWYC7LvbXm1-BOhhsQ/

Online Human Factors session

Following on the sucess of our online Associate Classroom session, our Observer Trainer David Reeves has begun creating short sessions covering different aspects of advanced driving.  Primarily aimed at our observers, we felt the first one Human Factors was of general interest to all our members. IAM RoadSmart published details in their weekly bulletin that is sent to all group committee members.

We held the session on Saturday 23rd May, and as well as our own members, we had 25 members from other IAM RoadSmart grojups around the country join us.  It was an excellent session, and there was a really interesting discussion generated at the end.

We will be holding more of these short sessions, so keep an eye on our events page.

Missed this webinar – catch up on our YouTube channel using this link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ZUrhWYC7LvbXm1-BOhhsQ/

Online AGM!

We successfully held our AGM on 29^th April – online!  Meticulous planning was involved to enable those members who are not online to be able to vote and ask questions.  We produced paper voting forms, and sent these with copy of the minutes from 2019 AGM and our 2020 audited accounts.  We also sent the Chairman’s address as he had kindly typed it up!  These also went to our online members, along with an electronic voting form.

We had a great response (60% return for the paper votes), and more votes electronically than we normally get turn up for the actual event!

On the evening around 30 members connected in via Zoom.  During the evening two virtual presentations were made.  David Smith who has been our group secretary since 2011 but was not standing for re-election received the Caithness Rosebowl, and Ann Lancaster who had stood down as Treasurer at the end of January after 9 years received the Presidents Award.

Our officers of the group are now: Chair – John Norrie, Secretary – Jack Foreman, Treasurer – Henny Cameron.

Following our formal business, our Group President, Andy Hunt, gave a really interesting and entertaining talk.

Suspension of current activities

This email follows our previous communications in relation to the Corona (COVID-19) virus.

Late yesterday (16th March), the Prime Minister said that everyone in the UK should now avoid non-essential travel and contact with others.

Suspension of all activities

Given this guidance, all face-to-face Northampton Advanced Motorist meetings, activities and events must be suspended from today, Tuesday, 17 March 2020. This suspension applies to all activities and will be until further notice.

We are suspending:

• All one-one checkdrives and assessments

We are cancelling:

• Our Sunday checkdrives for the foreseeable future
• Our AGM, although we are looking at ways to deliver the formal business electronically.

Updates

We will keep everyone updated via email, social media and this website (news)

COVID-19 and One-One drives

Several members have asked what our position is  regarding COVID-19 and in particular should they continue their one-to-one driving sessions.

Having  looked at the government public health information, we see no reason to cancel all one-to-one sessions. However, please cancel your one-to-one session if you are feeling unwell, displaying any symptoms, have had contact with an infected person or have visited one of the listed countries.

Further, we recognise that some members or their close relatives may be at an increased risk due to existing medical conditions. If this is the case for you, observer or associate, please cancel your sessions.

Official guidance is changing on a daily basis, and we may need to review the situation in the near future.

Young Drivers – 10 spaces left

There are just 10 spaces left on our amazing young driver scheme. We are fortunate to receive a grant from the Office of the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner that enables us to offer a £100 cash back to anyone under 26 who pases their IAM RoadSmart Advanced Driving test with us. This means the whole Advanced Driving Course will cost just £49.
The take-up has been amazing, and we only have 10 spaces left – so if you are under 26 book your slot now (come and have a free taster first – book here!)

Northants Safer Roads Alliance

The Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance has been established to implement the Northamptonshire Strategic Road Safety Plan.  Comprising partners from all different agencies with an interest in road safety (including Northamptonshire Police, East Midlands Ambulance Service, Northamptonshire Highways, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue, and us amongst others) the recognition is that we have a shared responsibility to ‘prevent crashes and to minimise the chances of fatal or serious injuries where crashes do occur’.

All the partners of the Alliance have a shared aim “to provide safer roads, public footpaths and cycleways within the county, whereby the safety and security of all road users is enhanced”.

The Alliance utilises a partnership approach to deliver road safety across the 5 ‘E’s: Engagement, Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Evaluation.

The Alliance is overseen by a strategic board that reports to the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.  Under that sits the Practitioners group which includes the experts such as PC Dave Lee (Safer Roads team).  John Norrie, our Chairman, represents our Group and the wider remit of advanced driving on the practitioners group.

Below the practitioners are sub groups covering working drivers, young drivers, mature drivers and communications; and we have representatives on those as well!

Activities that the sub groups get up to include running behaviour change workshops for working drivers, and attending other events to promote road safety.

Northamptonshire-Strategic-Road-Safety-Plan-1

2020 Group Subscriptions Due 1st Feb!

It is that time again – our Group subscriptions are due. Our subscriptions have remained at £10 for some years, and represent excellent value!

You can download the forms here, including a standing order form.

Group wins grant for young driver offer

We are thrilled to announce we have been awarded a grant from the Office of the Police, Fire, and Crime Commissioner. Specifically, the grant is for young drivers who are our most vulnerable section of drivers.

In our bid we explained the Advanced driving course is an excellent way of improving driver behaviour and making our roads safer.

Road safety organisations, the Government, and the Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance are constantly trying initiatives aimed at under-26 drivers, as this age group is statistically more likely to be involved in a collision than other groups.

We wish to assist in every possible way by encouraging more under-26 drivers in our area to become advanced drivers. To this end, this grant is enabling us to offer a refund of £100 off the IAM RoadSmart Advanced Driving Course for under-26 drivers who pass their Advanced Driving Test with us.

The £149 cost is often out of the reach of younger drivers, therefore by offering a substantial discount, we will make the Advanced Driving Course affordable and attractive.

If you know a young driver who would like to benefit from this scheme, please contact us on nam_secretary@yahoo.co.uk. or get them to book a free taster drive here.

2019 Group Subscription due

It is that time again – our Group subscriptions are due. Our subscriptions have remained at £10 for some years, and represent excellent value!

IAM RoadSmart launches “Thumbs Up For Great Driving!”, 1st – 31st August 2018

RoadSmart has labelled August ‘Thumbs Up For Great Driving And Riding!’ month as the charity gears up for a campaign to increase courteous and polite driving and riding on UK roads.

From 1st to 31st August, IAM RoadSmart is encouraging drivers and motorcyclists via its network of 202 local groups around the country to acknowledge and demonstrate their appreciation when another driver or rider lets them into traffic, allows them priority or gives them a helping hand –with a simple thumbs up.

The money raised from the campaign will go towards a special IAM RoadSmart safety vehicle, decked up in IAM RoadSmart colours and equipped with road safety merchandise and equipment. If the target of £10,000 is reached, IAM RoadSmart groups around the country can use the vehicle free of charge for promotional events or displays through the year as they help spread the road safety message to young people and local community groups in their area.

The ‘Thumbs Up For Great Driving And Riding!’ campaign has won the support of two of the country’s most respected motorsport heroes –Nigel Mansell CBE and Paddy Hopkirk OBE, plus one of the UK’s most accomplished riders, Maria Costello MBE. Nigel, who is world famous for his 14-year Formula 1 career culminating in winning the 1992 world title in a Williams, said: “Nowadays it sometimes feels like courtesy on our roads is in rather short supply – and it’s about time that good driving is rewarded. I am wholly in favour of ‘Thumbs Up For Great Driving And Riding!’ month –anything that leaves a smile on the face after a journey is a good idea to me.”

Paddy, who became a household name after winning the Monte Carlo and Acropolis rallies in the iconic red Mini, as well as competing at Le Mans, Daytona in the USA and the epic London-Sydney Marathon, added: “I’ve been driving for more than six decades and being thanked or thanking someone changes the whole tone of a journey. Let’s just make all our lives that much more cheerful by giving the thumbs up where it’s deserved and moving on with a smile.

”Maria, who made history as the first woman to claim a podium at the Isle of Man Classic TT alongside her hero John McGuinness and who held the Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to lap the Isle of Man TT course for five years, said: “It really is a shame to see conflict on the road escalate so fast, when all it takes is for one party to back down and diffuse the situation. We urge everyone out there to be the ‘bigger man or woman’ and take the first step towards promoting courtesy between road users as the norm and not the exception.

”IAM RoadSmart is asking drivers and motorcyclists to get involved with the campaign by sharing their own positive driving and riding experiences on social media using the hashtags #ThumbsUpForGreatDriving, #ThumbsUpForGreatRiding or #ThumbsUpForGreatDrivingAndRiding.

For more information please visit www.iamroadsmart.com/ThumbsUp .

General Data Protection Regulations – 25th May 2018

New data protection laws mean we need permission to stay in touch therefore we have now contacted all our members who have been current within the past 12 months and our supporters to ask them to opt into receiving communications about promotional and social events.

Members an supporters will still receive our quarterly newsletter, monthly bulletins and subscription reminders as these form part of our core membership with them. In addition members undergoing the Advanced Driving Course will still receive information about one-one observed drives and classroom sessions.

We have asked members to confirm they wish the following:

• to receive information about our social and promotional events
• that we can publish their name and photo in any write up of our events in our newsletter, and on our social media accounts to publicise our Group.
• to use social media and our website to celebrate our test passes and their achievement.

We have a data privacy notice that can be found here and a data retention policy.

If you are a member or supporter and think you have not received our GDPR e-mail, please check your Junk emails. If it is not there, please contact us using our contact page.

Northamptonshire County Schools Challenge – Road Safety

The Northamptonshire County Schools Challenge (NCSC) is a joint Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service project where secondary school pupils use a business approach to raise awareness and develop creative ways to tackle a social problem.

This year the theme is keeping our roads safe for 12-16 year olds.  NCSC selected the theme following an excellent bid from the Northamptonshire Safer Roads team, who explained that whilst there was a lot of road safety materials for primary schools and for 6th formers (new drivers), there was very little for the vulnerable 12-16 year olds.

NCSC have 24 schools participating, and the Dragons will be selecting the top eight from the two-day semi-finals to represent their schools at our Grand Final being held in July.  At this point NCSC do not know what innovative products and/or services the students will design, but based on previous years they will be exciting.

NCSC would like to extend an invitation to all our members to attend the Grand Final, details as follows:

To book ticket(s), contact Henny Cameron who will reserve them to be picked up from the box office on the night.  Alternatively they can be booked via the Castle box office, using http://castletheatre.co.uk/ or 01933 270007

#DontStreamAndDrive day 3rd April 2018

We are proud to support the #DontStreamAndDrive campaign, the only IAM RoadSmart Group to officially do so (click on logos to get larger image and spot our logo!).

The following is taken from the Think Road Safety governnent website

The facts

Drivers using a hands-free or handheld mobile phone are slower at recognising and reacting to hazards.

Research shows:

You are four times more likely to be in a crash if you use your phone.

Your reaction times are two times slower if you text and drive than if you drink drive, and this increases to three times if you use a handheld phone.

Even careful drivers can be distracted by a call or text – and a split-second lapse in concentration could result in a crash.

The law

It’s illegal to use a handheld mobile when driving. This includes using your phone to follow a map, read a text or check social media. This applies even if you’re stopped at traffic lights or queuing in traffic.

It is also illegal to use a handheld phone or similar device when supervising a learner driver.

You can only use a handheld phone if you are safely parked or need to call 999 or 112 in an emergency and it’s unsafe or impractical to stop.

If you’re caught using a handheld phone while driving, you’ll get 6 penalty points on your licence and a fine of £200. Points on your licence will result in higher insurance costs.

If you get just 6 points in the first two years after passing your test, you will lose your licence.

Using hands free (e.g. for navigation) is not illegal. However, if this distracts you and affects your ability to drive safely, you can still be prosecuted by the police.

Peter Davey

Sadly, we have to report the death of long serving Observer and committee member, Peter Davey on 6th January this year.

He took and passed his IAM Advanced Driving Test in 1991 driving his beloved 1980 MGB GT. Following this he trained and became an Observer then senior observer for our Group. Helping many Associates pass their test. He joined our committee at the end of 1995, and became our first one-one organiser and serving for seventeen years. He worked tirelessly for our Group, which can be evidenced in Peter winning our *Points Award on no less than three occasions (1994, 2001 and 2003). Unfortunately ill health forced peter to step down from observing in 2014 although he and Ellen still attended our social events.

On his retirement we awarded Peter our Presidents Award to acknowledge his enormous and valuable contribution to our Group.

Peter also had a number of other talents, not least as an artist. He painted mainly in watercolours and oils, doing mainly landscapes, and at one point ran a small afternoon art class. He was also a talented cartoonist, and created a number for us to use in our newsletters.

He was a committed MG owner, and attended many of their events including the annual trip to Jersey which he professed was his favourite holiday destination.

Brian Johnson

It is with real sadness that we have to announce the death of one of our longest serving observers, Brian Johnson.

Brian passed his car test in September 1986 and became an observer soon after. He continued in this role for 26 years, helping many of our Associates successfully achieve advanced driver status.

Being a trucker by trade (he drove for Golden Wonder amongst others), Brian followed this up with his commercial test in 1988. Becoming an observer for commercial vehicles naturally followed! Over the next five years Brian helped 11 drivers pass their commercial Advanced Driving test.

Brian joined our committee in 1995 only resigning in 2013 due to ill-health. During this time he became Chief Observer, responsible for standards and training of all our observers. He also arranged many specialist events, often involving a coach or bus from the Northampton Historical Vehicle Association of which he was a member. The Group enjoyed turning up to Bletchley Park, Sulgrave Manor and the National Tramway museum in one of their beautiful vehicles.

Always generous with his time and with a heart of gold, Brian used to hold sessions with his truck so Group members could understand the view from the cab and have a go at manoeuvring.

Brian had a never ending supply of jokes and one-liners, and a beaming smile! He was also an expert crossworder, and often set the crosswords in our newsletter.

Away from the IAM, Brian was a keen scrabble player, and was a member of the Northampton Twinning Association. This meant he had many trips to twinned towns, and knew the Mayor of Northampton – whom he always brought as a guest to our Christmas meals!

In 2011 Brian was awarded The Presidents Award to thank him for his excellent service to the group.

Our 40th Birthday!

This year, on 31st January to be exact, we will hit a big milestone birthday, our 40th!!

To celebrate this very special occasion, and to say thank you to all our hardworking members (past and present) we will be organising a big event in the summer. At the moment we are thinking of a barbeque related event. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.

We are also hoping that we can reach another milestone achievement this year, that of our 1,000th test pass. We had an amazing year in 2017 with 38 passes (our year does not end until 31st January so this may increase!), and if we match these figures in 2018 we will achieve 1,000 passes!