Jumpstart

Jumpstart Learner Mentor Driving Program

Learner Drivers

The Jumpstart Learner Driver Mentor Programme provides assistance via our volunteer drivers, to mentor learners in cars owned and maintained by GeCo. Mentors are there to be a surrogate friend or family member. They do not ‘teach’, only offer the benefit of their experience. Our mentors do have training, but they are not educators.

The aim is to take some of the pressures of getting a learner on the road out of the equation, such as:

Not having a suitable vehicle to practice in
Not having a suitable friend or family member for the learner’s needs
Financial strain of insurance/petrol
Creating routine and repeated learning environment in time-poor families

If you’d like to participate as alearner driver, download an application form and have a chat to us on +61 3 6297 1616.

Click Here for an Application Form

Jumpstart Learner Mentor Driving Program

Mentor Drivers

Our volunteer Mentors are critical to the success of our Jumpstart Program. We provide training and support. You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to have the patience to share your experience with a driver who is starting out.

Requirements for our Mentor Drivers are:

– Valid Tasmanian License
– Willing to obtain a Working With Vulnerable People’s Card (at our cost)
– Willing to obtain a Police Check (at our cost)
– Availability for 1-2 hours per week

If you’d like to participate as mentor driver and change someone’s life, we’d love to hear from you. Please download an application form and have a chat to us on +61 3 6297 1616.

Click Here for an Application Form

Vehicles

The Jumpstart Program is based at the Community Centre in Geeveston, and is funded through Driver Mentoring Tasmania and the Department of State Growth, Tasmania. Jumpstart owns an automatic Holden Astra which is made available to Learner Drivers (accompanied by a Mentor) to build up their hours so that they can gain their P1 Licence. All vehicle costs are covered by the program.

Success Stories

We have all sorts of people accessing the Jumpstart program to build up their hours prior to sitting for their P Plates. We’ve seen drivers aged from 16 to their mid-sixties.

In Tasmania, Learner Drivers are required to log 80 hours of practice, including 15 hours of night-time driving over a 12 month period. That seems an impossible task for some people. The kinds of obstacles we see most often are:

– No suitable friend or family member to mentor

– Prohibitive cost of petrol

– No suitable vehicle

– Cost of insurance

Many of our learners are hoping to obtain work, move out of the area, continue their studies and generally afford themselves transport options in an area where we are geographically disadvantaged – with minimal public transport available.

Our recent graduates have seen a massive change in their lives since getting their licenses. From having access to a vehicle for childcare, to being able to travel further afield to do community work, or helping out with family, the freedom to be mobile has a dramatic impact. Consider:

1) Employability; someone with a license is a more attractive hire as they have increased flexibility

2) Budget; something like groceries – there’s a huge difference between only having access to 1 store, and being able to plan shopping where things are on special.

3) Positive Mental Health – sometimes just having the choice to go somewhere can have an impact on mental health.