Rev and Go
Cotgrave youth kick-start their new lifestyle
Roger Edwards is the project manager of Rev and Go - a voluntary trust serving young people in Rushcliffe.
Rev and Go has worked hard to achieve success since it started over seven years ago in Cotgrave. It offers young people the opportunity to ride motorcycles in exchange for a contract of good behaviour and abstinence from anti-social acts.
Young people are being helped to develop life skills using motorcycles as a learning tool and reward. Rev and Go has worked with over 100 young people to develop teamwork skills and respect for all - as well as motorcycle safety and maintainance. Members control their own behaviour contract and young people use expulsion as an ultimate incentive. When 16 year old members' Chair, Ben Philips, was caught riding illegally he had to re-apply for his membership.
"But it is the strong relationship with NCF that has enabled us to keep going. The grants they give us are vital as it costs £24,000 a year to run the group" says Roger.
Daniel's Story - from member to mentor
It was Daniel Hegarty who, at just 12 years old, founded the unique local motor cycle club Rev and Go.
"I was a typical teenager, pushing all the boundaries, rebelling at school, so much so they wanted to exclude me. We had family struggles and I'm not proud of the way I reacted. At one point me and my brother got caught by the police in a stolen car. I was charged. It gave me a real shock and it pushed me harder to observe Rev and Go's basic contract and encourage other members to - no illegal use of motor vehicles.
I finished school and went and got my Motor Cycle Technician's qualifications. After college I was really too old for the group. so I volunteered to be a mentor for the junior members. And I have now been voted its Lifetime Honorary President."
Daniel is identified as a future international motor cycle star.
The Bigger Picture
Statistics reveal Cotgrave to be the most deprived area of Nottinghamshire south of the River Trent. Crime by young people is high.
The area was deeply affected by the closure of the local pit in 1993. Employment collapsed dramatically and suddenly. The village experienced a deep sense of grief and loss.
The Nottinghamshire coalfields are unique in character. Neither rural, nor urban, with run-down housing estates, they are often isolated.
But there is positive change, much of the dereliction has been renovated and community initiatives have helped create alternative forms of work. Cotgrave is improving and becoming a better place to work, live and play.
Cotgrave's police constable, John Reason, has said "Motorcyle related crime and nuisance has become almost non-existent. Rev and Go's work has had a knock-on effect, improving the behaviour of the 13-16 year age group which benefits all the residents. The town would be a poorer place without it."
Nottinghamshire Community Foundation has been part of this success as we have on so many occasions with other communities in our city and county. But there is still plenty more work to be done to ensure valuable projects such as this are sustainable.