In December 2003 P.C. Dave Nixon
was invited to the Prince Michael of
Kent International Awards Ceremony
Lunch at the Savoy Hotel in London.
This was to mark him being awarded
a Certificate from Prince Michael,
highly commending his work in
connection with the Wise Drive event.
It was a great honour for Dave and
Wise Drive to receive such
recognition.
For the first time in the event's history, a
successful bid was submitted to the County
Durham Foundation, resulting in a
substantial grant of money being provided
by them. This assistance was most gratefully
received as an event such as Wise Drive
requires considerable sums of money to
operate. This was supplemented with funds
from County Durham and Darlington Youth
Offending Team. 'Wise Drive' is truly a multiagency
initiative and would not succeed
without the immense support and
commitment of all those agencies and
businesses who form the partnership.
Special thanks must be given to the Chief
Constable of Durham Constabulary, Mr Paul
Garvin whose commitment and generosity
allows the use of the Police Headquarters
site to host the initiative. Included in this is
the provision of numerous staff both in the
preparation of the site and the running of
some of the varied activities during the
event.
Mention must be made of all the staff who
facilitate the event. Their professionalism,
hard work and above all genuine enthusiasm
for their task is the key to its success. From
day one to the final day there is a spirit of
teamwork and shared objective which has
been obvious to all who visited the event.
The comfortable and relaxed environment
that this provides undoubtedly affords the
participants the gretest opportunity to enjoy
the day and take away the most important of
messages.
September 2004 will once again see Wise
Drive take place over a ten day period. The
event will remain unchanged from 2003,
catering for 440 participants.
Partners and
Organisations
supporting Wise Drive
include:
Barclays Bank
B.S.M.
County Durham Foundation
Darlington Borough Council,
Road Safety Dept
Driver Vehicle Licensing
Authority
Driving Standards Agency
Durham Agency Against Crime
Durham and Darlington Fire and
Rescue Service
Durham Constabulary
Durham County Council, Road
Safety Dept
McDonalds
North East Ambulance Service
The Youth Engagement Service
Walkers Snack Foods Ltd
Feedback from past
participants 'It was realistic and didn't spare any
scenes, which may disturb us - this
was better as it proves that car
crashes in the movies don't tell a true
story'.
'I really enjoyed my day here; it gave
me a whole new insight into driving
carefully'.
Feedback comments from
teaching staff and visitors Superb day, interesting, informative,
shocking and thought provoking'.
'Brilliant day's activities, great to see a
real and focused effort to change
behaviours amongst a highly
impressionable group'.
'A first class carousel of events. The
students clearly enjoyed everything
they did and learnt a lot. If the
exercise is responsible for reducing
road accidents by just one it will have
been entirely worthwhile'. |
