Council finds solution to program gap

District Council of Grant has celebrated more than 11 years of learner mentor driving and will move to support disadvantaged youth with gaining a provisional licence by providing financial assistance.

At Monday’s Council Meeting, Council agreed to fund up to two professional driving lessons for local disadvantaged youth in light of the wind-up of the volunteer-based Youth on Wheels program on August 31 and subsequent sale of the program’s vehicle.

District Council of Grant director corporate and community Gary Button said the program had been a great success over the past decade in assisting many young locals in gaining compulsory supervised driving hours before obtaining their provisional license.

“We have seen around 105 young people take up the driving opportunity and over 3000 volunteer hours dedicated to helping disadvantaged youth gain the skills and hours they needed to obtain their provisional driver’s license,” Mr Button said.

“The success of the program is largely due to the generosity of a small but dedicated team of volunteers and council staff who coordinate the bookings and provide administrative support to the volunteers.

“Without the assistance from these volunteers, staff and various organisations it would not have been possible to offer the Youth on Wheels program in the format that has been provided.”

The program targeted youth aged 16 to 25 years who held a Learner’s permit and lacked support to achieve the mandatory 75 hours of supervised driving to be eligible to obtain a provisional drivers licence.

Successful applicants were paired with a volunteer mentor driver to gain a minimum of two hours driving experience per week and increase their confidence.

A recent review of the program found that only 7 per cent of participants were from the District Council of Grant area, and paired with the challenges in recruiting volunteers and increases in running costs, it was deemed Youth on Wheels was not viable to continue in its current format.

Council resolved to wind-up the program at the end of the month and arrange the sale of the program vehicle, with those funds to be set aside for eligible disadvantaged youth to subsides costs of professional driving lessons.

Funding will only become available after the sale of the vehicle and subject to applications from youth residing in the District Council of Grant.

Jack Peacock is one of the programs dedicated volunteers for approximately 11 years and has been the mentor supervising driver for the program’s final participant Shelby.

Mr Peacock reflected on his time with Youth on Wheels which was one of the first things he ever volunteered for.

“I don’t know where the years have gone,” Mr Peacock said.

“A lot of [participants] were very wary of roundabouts, especially the Frew Park one. Shelby went around it as good as gold as anyone can go around it.

“She was a bit scared of it at first when she started but yeah, she can do it good as gold now just by practice.”

Mr Peacock also said he had gained a lot of satisfaction from helping young people increase their confidence on the road and improve their driving skills.

“The process of going through and starting them from scratch, driving around a car park at the Ice-House… just getting them to start and going on from there… seeing how quickly they improved once starting out on the road and start more advanced stuff with us like reverse parking,” he said.

“It is a bit disappointing (to see Youth on Wheels end) but so many people have tried so hard to make it work.”

Council acknowledges the efforts of the 17 Youth on Wheels volunteers from the past 11 years who have supported the 105 local young people obtain their provisional licence.

Volunteers and program sponsors will be officially celebrate for their generosity in the coming weeks.

The District Council of Grant welcomes local organisations or businesses who are interested in providing a similar learner mentor driving service to contact Council to discuss support options for a future service.