Helping people drive toward brighter futures, not just on the road, but in life. 💜
We provide sponsored lessons that empower individuals to rebuild, reconnect, and rejoin their community with confidence. 🚗 It offers freedom to travel anywhere at any time and opens doors to employment which were previously out of reach. For example, jobs involving driving or simply being able to get to a location not easy to access by public transport. In addition to travel and employment opportunities, a driving licence is a form of ID which can be used when applying for voting and other legal disclosures. The aim of the Community Driving School (CDS) is to allow those on a low wage, unemployed and students access to jobs previously beyond them and discourage people from driving illegally by helping them access funds to assist pay for lessons and obtain a valid UK Driving Licence. According to a report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) from November 2016, the UK Government spends £211 billion on social welfare. The aim for CDS is clear and if this sum can be reduced by offering people a route into employment, then it is surely a good thing. A report from Nottingham University clearly shows a correlation between low income and increased risk of being involved in fatal road incidents. The study, A Poor Way to Die: Social Deprivation and road traffic fatalities, states that campaigns need to focus on strategies to ensure people on low incomes are made aware of these dangers and the results their actions cause (ref: A Poor Way to Die: Social Deprivation and road traffic fatalities, p11, Conclusions). CDS can do this and tackle this issue head on. Background
In a report dated April 22nd 2016 by the financial website “This is Money”, it clearly stated that 131,000 jobs advertised that it was necessary for the applicant to have a valid UK driving licence. Another 7,700 jobs stated that a UK driving licence was “beneficial or practical” when applying. The list of prospective opportunities includes carer, zoo worker, chef, cleaner, sales consultant and many other varied roles. With the UK being a top ten economy, a report conducted by Oxfam states that 36% of the UK population are one bill or broken appliance away from hardship. When taken into consideration this gives a worrying possibility for the future. People living in poverty or low wages are being prevented from attempting to escape the cycle and improve their living conditions as they cannot afford driving lessons. This includes highly educated immigrants who struggle to find work in the UK, such as doctors, lawyers or teachers. By gaining a UK driving licence, their employment chances are increased which reduces their reliance on state sponsorship (refer to Breaking Barriers Charity). In addition to assisting people in poverty, our aim is to stop criminals using fake ID and fraudulent instructors putting untrained drivers on the road. For example, one man using various disguises allowed 84 untrained drivers on the road by sitting the driving and theory test for them (refer to report from the Daily Mirror). One further area that CDS will become involved with is to campaign for mandatory assessment lessons for people aged 70 or over. The report by Nottingham University shows that wealthier older people are involved in more fatal road traffic incidents (ref: A Poor Way to Die: Social Deprivation and road traffic fatalities, p9, Deprivation and Elderly Passenger Fatality). We firmly believe that by providing annual professional assessments in conjunction with medical professionals, our roads will become safer for all users.
