Funding to help our students drive safely

We are pleased to report that Richmond Sixth Form College have been awarded £1,074 from the North Yorkshire Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner’s AJ1 fund to support ‘driving safely’. The successful bid will help some of our newly-qualified drivers with additional driving experience and tuition to raise awareness of some of the incidents that can affect teenage drivers.

Working in conjunction with the Institute of Advanced Motorists, the college is hoping to offer a number of sixth form students the opportunity to drive alongside an instructor who will guide them in dealing with a number of possible driving scenarios. These include: driving on a motorway, driving on country roads and parking and manoeuvring – three of the aspects of driving that could be covered in a one hour session. There will be no cost to students for these sessions

Students who are interested in this great opportunity, to take extra tuition through this scheme, should contact Mr Dawson by who will be able to advise on the criteria they will need to fulfil in order to be considered.

It is thanks to Mr Dawson, the coordinator for the safer driving programme and also the young driver advocate at the local branch of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, that the funding has been made available.  He said: “Two of our sixth form students benefited from the safer driving tuition in 2019 and they found the training invaluable.  It will be wonderful if the initiative is able to go ahead this year.”

The AJ1 fund will see over £350,000 granted to improve road safety in 81 communities across North Yorkshire and York. This has been made possible by the sale of the historic AJ1 vehicle registration, the first number plate used in the North Riding of Yorkshire, by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Julia Mulligan decided, along with North Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Lisa Winward, that the AJ1 mark was better invested in supporting communities and it was sold commercially at auction in 2019.