As part of a Road Safety Awareness Project between the Department of Education’s Youth Service and MSM Driving School, eight lucky young people from Peel recently had the chance to challenge their skills behind the wheel of a car in the Grandstand car park.

This is the second time the project has been run and is always very popular.

Tracy Jones, Youth and Community Worker for Peel, said, "We believe by giving these young people the chance to get basic knowledge of a car’s controls and, most importantly, the safety aspect of being a driver, it will bring awareness of the dangers we all face every day as road users.

"We hope to keep running the scheme and extend it to allow other youth clubs to bring along young people who would like the challenge."

She added, "It is great for the young people to participate and achieve a skill that would usually cost a lot of money.  It has been a positive and fun experience."

Fully qualified MSM instructors have offered their time free of charge and Gary Longstaff, Director, believes it’s a great way to reach out into the community and give the youngsters something constructive to do in their spare time.

"Gaining the essential control and observation skills prior to going onto the road can also be cost effective," he said.  "The option to come back and practice with different cars and instructors can give the pupils a chance to decide which instructor they would prefer to be taught by should they take driving lessons at a later stage."

Pictured (l-r): Lisa Hodgson, Kevin Mellor, Katie Mckenna, Aalish Watson, Kirsty Shepard, Gary Longstaff (MSM), Jessica Fargher, Rebecca Griffin, Simon Watson and Tracy Jones (Youth and Community Worker).