Published : Thursday, 15 April 2010
Help prevent bereavement and serious injury and educate the next generation of drivers with Brake, the road safety charity
Shockingly, one in four car drivers killed or seriously injured is under 25, yet just one in fifteen car drivers is in this age group. Are you are passionate about preventing these horrific deaths and serious injuries?
Brake, the road safety charity, is looking for people to help save lives by running 2Young2Die workshops with young people on the dangers of speeding, drink and drug driving and not wearing seat belts. We are particularly keen to hear from you if you have been affected personally by a serious injury or death in a road crash, as you will have an important personal story to tell to young people about the dangers of roads.
We can train you to run 2Young2Die workshops for young people in your community through a FREE one-day course! 2Young2Die is a project coordinated by Brake which trains volunteers to run interactive workshops for young people in schools, colleges and youth organisations across the UK. Using our resources, you can make a difference to young people’s attitudes through hard-hitting real life stories, scenarios, discussion exercises and a range of quick, lively activities.
Brake has been running volunteer-led education of young people about the dangers of driving for years. We have extensive experience producing educational resources for young people, ranging from risk-awareness DVDs to e-learning packages. Our training is delivered by top trainers with experience in working with young people.
One of 2Young2Die’s most inspirational volunteers is Nick Bennett, who was seriously injured in a road crash in 2002 when he was just 18. Nick drove into the path of a three tonne lorry while trying to overtake two slow moving cars and suffered injuries to his brain stem. Now in a wheelchair Nick has teamed up with driving instructor Phil to run 2Young2Die workshops with more than 1000 young people in their local community. Nick says that despite his injuries, he has kept his sense of humour, which can be seen during the workshops when he compares his daily life after his road crash to the daily lives of the students.
One bereaved dad who has lots of experience of running 2Young2Die workshops is Tony Davison, whose 19-year-old son Adrian was killed as a passenger in his friend Nigel’s car. Both boys had been drinking. Tony now runs workshops in schools and colleges around his home county of West Yorkshire – and has even been flown out to Germany by the armed forces to run workshops for young troops. He says: “Running 2Young2Die workshops is a very positive step for me and I find it really rewarding when young people take my comments on board. I don’t want my boy’s death to be in vain.”
Teacher Sandra Mulligan, who trained as a 2Young2Die volunteer in 2006, works with Preston College from October and January each year to run workshops for all new students. She says: “There are two main reasons I got involved with 2Young2Die: the personal experience of losing a friend on the roads when he fell asleep at the wheel; and to help stop crashes involving students from the college. I am always amazed at the number of students who admit that, for example, they do not wear seatbelts, and use my experience as a nurse and a biology teacher to explain the effects of a crash, as well as telling my personal story.’
To find out more about what it takes to join Nick, Tony and Sandra in becoming a 2Young2Die volunteer, email 2young2die@brake.org.uk, call Ruth at Brake on 01484 559909, or visit the Road Safety Academy pages on Brake’s website at www.brake.org.uk/academy. We look forward to hearing from you!
