Getting young people into the IAM

[Buelligan 984]

Mark,

It may not be the reply ou were expecting, but I typed "IAM Hampshire" into Google (yep, I live in Hampshire).

First "hit" was "Nottingham Advanced Motorcyclists".

Second "hit" was "School students challenged to find cure for malaria".

You wonder why more young people don't join IAM? = problem solved! All we need is the soloution,

Dave

[WeirdNeville]

I'd just like to throw my tuppence in after nearly 2 months of trying to get in touch with my local IAM groups....

I'm 26, so not exactly a child, but I am a police response driver and I drive a nice chavvy car (Purple Nissan 200SX). Personally I think I could be an asset to an IAM group, because I would like to become an observer and this could encourage younger drivers to take their driving seriously without having someone too much like their dad lecturing them....

Anyway, I got in touch with Oxford IAM and to their credit they got back with a comprehensive reply saying they'd love to have me on board, but there was actually a local High Wycombe Group.

So I emailed them asking when their next meet up was and If I could come along. They emailed back about a week later saying they'd get in touch..... and since then nothing. Their website consists of nothing more than a 2006 page on "what's on in High Wycombe" and isn't linked from the IAM main site, and they seem totally disinterested in getting more people recruited.

If the IAM were truly devoted to improving driving standards across the board, they'd be much more pro-active about getting hold of observers across a range of the community (young and old - whoever wants to give their time) and they'd be trying to expand and train more people. As it is I get the feeling that they're just a rotary club with a very insular view of the world, and they don't really want anyone to burst their bubble.

[bertbert]

Don't be too tough on them WN. The best organisations in the world find it hard to be responsive to their "customers". For a volunteer organisation like IAM, it's monumentally hard. I'd suggest just trying again to get in touch and see if you can make progress.

Bert

[Whosegeneration]

WeirdNeville said:

I'd just like to throw my tuppence in after nearly 2 months of trying to get in touch with my local IAM groups....

I'm 26, so not exactly a child, but I am a police response driver and I drive a nice chavvy car (Purple Nissan 200SX). Personally I think I could be an asset to an IAM group, because I would like to become an observer and this could encourage younger drivers to take their driving seriously without having someone too much like their dad lecturing them....

Anyway, I got in touch with Oxford IAM and to their credit they got back with a comprehensive reply saying they'd love to have me on board, but there was actually a local High Wycombe Group.

So I emailed them asking when their next meet up was and If I could come along. They emailed back about a week later saying they'd get in touch..... and since then nothing. Their website consists of nothing more than a 2006 page on "what's on in High Wycombe" and isn't linked from the IAM main site, and they seem totally disinterested in getting more people recruited.

If the IAM were truly devoted to improving driving standards across the board, they'd be much more pro-active about getting hold of observers across a range of the community (young and old - whoever wants to give their time) and they'd be trying to expand and train more people. As it is I get the feeling that they're just a rotary club with a very insular view of the world, and they don't really want anyone to burst their bubble.

Did you state your status in your email?
If you did and they didn't grab you with both hands, it's a sad comment upon that Group.
Most Local Groups love having Police Drivers on board.
It keeps them up to date on current Police process and gives credibility to the Group with Members and Associates.
So, just go along to the Oxford Group and say, "Here I am, I want to help".