The following is a copy of an article that was published under the
‘Association News’ section of the ADI News magazine in June 2012.
(The location of meetings & fees payable have changed since this article was published)
The St Helens & District ADI Association is relatively new. Situated in the North West of England, St Helens is famous for Pilkington Glass, with its subsidiary Triplex Safety Glass, a major world supplier of toughened & laminated safety glass. Chemical Production; Coal Mining; Beecham Pharmaceuticals; Brewing; Brick making; Saints Rugby League; Sankey Canal; and the Dream Sculpture are other notable headliners in the area.
In The Beginning:
The Association was formed in July 2009. The founder members were: Organiser/Treasurer - Terry Charnock; Chairman - Peter Barnes; Secretary - Mervyn Watkins & Committee Members - James Cook, James Jones, Robert Kempster & Mark Williams. Meetings are held in the evening on the second second Thursday of each month. Our aims & objectives are: to bring local ADIs together to combine knowledge & experience, to discuss & solve any problems. We also have a commitment to give quality driving tuition & improve road safety for our local community.
Members’ input of ideas each month makes for very informative, & enjoyable, evenings. We designed an Association Badge which members display on their vehicles as a sign of their commitment to the Association and DSA high standards for tuition & road safety. Guest Speakers have included Ted Taylor & Nigel Robinson from the DSA who provided a presentation on the Check Test, & a Coaching Presentation by David Baines, both absolutely excellent & enjoyable. David also gives training, help & advice, as well as running a very popular & Treasure Hunt during the summer.
Meanwhile, our website is designed & updated by Mark Williams - please visit www.sthelensadi.com. The Association is a member of the ADINJC (Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council) & NWFDIA (North West Federation of Driving Instructors Association). We have had a great success & made great strides forward in the short time we have been together.
In The Beginning:
The Association was formed in July 2009. The founder members were: Organiser/Treasurer - Terry Charnock; Chairman - Peter Barnes; Secretary - Mervyn Watkins & Committee Members - James Cook, James Jones, Robert Kempster & Mark Williams. Meetings are held in the evening on the second second Thursday of each month. Our aims & objectives are: to bring local ADIs together to combine knowledge & experience, to discuss & solve any problems. We also have a commitment to give quality driving tuition & improve road safety for our local community.
Members’ input of ideas each month makes for very informative, & enjoyable, evenings. We designed an Association Badge which members display on their vehicles as a sign of their commitment to the Association and DSA high standards for tuition & road safety. Guest Speakers have included Ted Taylor & Nigel Robinson from the DSA who provided a presentation on the Check Test, & a Coaching Presentation by David Baines, both absolutely excellent & enjoyable. David also gives training, help & advice, as well as running a very popular & Treasure Hunt during the summer.
Meanwhile, our website is designed & updated by Mark Williams - please visit www.sthelensadi.com. The Association is a member of the ADINJC (Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council) & NWFDIA (North West Federation of Driving Instructors Association). We have had a great success & made great strides forward in the short time we have been together.
The Present:
The Association is now three years old & the membership has remained steady throughout. Meetings have been well attended, informative & really enjoyable, & we continue to make great progress on all aspects of the association work. We recently moved our meetings to an excellent venue at The Gerard Arms, Dentons Green Lane, Dentons Green, St Helens WA10 6SD, & the room includes a projector screen for presentations. The current Officials for the Association are: Chairman - James Jones; Secretary - Christine Holland; & Treasurer - Andrew Wood. James & Andrew have done an excellent job for a couple of years now. I have been Secretary for almost a year, having never done anything like this before, & whilst it has proved to be quite a challenge, equally it has been an enjoyable experience. The changes & improvements the Association has made this year include: Using the Associations logo to produce letterheads for the ‘Minutes’ & ‘Agenda’; ‘Membership Application Forms’; ‘Membership Cards’; Members Code of Conduct. We have introduced a £1.00 charge per member per meeting to help with the room hire costs, & we have a raffle each month. Presentations & guest speakers this year have included: A Chief Instructor from the Fire Service; the St Helens Council Highway & Traffic Engineering Department; The St Helens Council Road Safety Officer Gillian Roberts; & the Police. All the presentations have been very informative, interesting, & enjoyable. We also have regular Test Centre Surgeries to discuss any problems, & have built a great working relationship with the local Driving Examiners. We are also in regular contact with St Helens Council, exchanging information to help make our roads safer, & we were invited to join the Road Safety Joint Action Group (J.A.G.) involving the local Council, Police, Fire & Advanced Drivers. We are also looking forward to our first quarterly Newsletter due out soon, written by David Baines.
The Association is now three years old & the membership has remained steady throughout. Meetings have been well attended, informative & really enjoyable, & we continue to make great progress on all aspects of the association work. We recently moved our meetings to an excellent venue at The Gerard Arms, Dentons Green Lane, Dentons Green, St Helens WA10 6SD, & the room includes a projector screen for presentations. The current Officials for the Association are: Chairman - James Jones; Secretary - Christine Holland; & Treasurer - Andrew Wood. James & Andrew have done an excellent job for a couple of years now. I have been Secretary for almost a year, having never done anything like this before, & whilst it has proved to be quite a challenge, equally it has been an enjoyable experience. The changes & improvements the Association has made this year include: Using the Associations logo to produce letterheads for the ‘Minutes’ & ‘Agenda’; ‘Membership Application Forms’; ‘Membership Cards’; Members Code of Conduct. We have introduced a £1.00 charge per member per meeting to help with the room hire costs, & we have a raffle each month. Presentations & guest speakers this year have included: A Chief Instructor from the Fire Service; the St Helens Council Highway & Traffic Engineering Department; The St Helens Council Road Safety Officer Gillian Roberts; & the Police. All the presentations have been very informative, interesting, & enjoyable. We also have regular Test Centre Surgeries to discuss any problems, & have built a great working relationship with the local Driving Examiners. We are also in regular contact with St Helens Council, exchanging information to help make our roads safer, & we were invited to join the Road Safety Joint Action Group (J.A.G.) involving the local Council, Police, Fire & Advanced Drivers. We are also looking forward to our first quarterly Newsletter due out soon, written by David Baines.
The Future:
The St Helens & District ADI Association is now well established, improving year by year & is a fantastic success story. We have lots of exciting plans & ideas for the year ahead including charity events at our local fire station, & a Road Safety Day in the local Transport Museum. We also have more guest speakers already booked, & more planned.we always look forward to meeting & greeting new members, & there will always be a very warm welcome awaiting you. If you would like to join our Association, Membership costs just £20.00 per year, which helps to cover our operating costs & to build up funds for new equipment. We sincerely hope you will come along & join, & help us make our fourth year the best ever.
Christine Holland, Secretary
The St Helens & District ADI Association is now well established, improving year by year & is a fantastic success story. We have lots of exciting plans & ideas for the year ahead including charity events at our local fire station, & a Road Safety Day in the local Transport Museum. We also have more guest speakers already booked, & more planned.we always look forward to meeting & greeting new members, & there will always be a very warm welcome awaiting you. If you would like to join our Association, Membership costs just £20.00 per year, which helps to cover our operating costs & to build up funds for new equipment. We sincerely hope you will come along & join, & help us make our fourth year the best ever.
Christine Holland, Secretary
