I’m delighted to announce that the committee has approved the award of Honorary Membership to Jane Quilliam.Jane was born Jennifer and raised in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. As an infant, she was not a fan of clothes and her parents soon nicknamed her ‘Jane’ after a cartoon character from ‘Jane’s Journal’[1] who had a series of often hair-
raising adventures, most of which involved her losing her clothes at various points – though it was always for reasons outside her control. The name Jane has endured.
Jane’s driving career began when she passed her driving test in the 1960s. At the time she was working with British Telecom as a troubleshooting Engineering Technician conducting first-line diagnosis, a job she thoroughly enjoyed and at which she became very proficient.
With her love of driving it was inevitable that there was more to come. Sure enough, Jane spotted an advertisement in the Stroud News for a 3-week, police-run ‘Better Driver’ course. She quickly enrolled, learnt from some of the best drivers around and was assessed at the end of the course by our own Graham Beale. With a strong recommendation from Graham that she continue learning, it wasn’t long before her rally driver husband encouraged her to become an advanced driver.
Jane joined Glos RoADAR in 1989, at that time a car-only group, and after being tutored by Ian Smith, was examined by Chris Ellis and awarded a Gold pass. It was at this stage that Jane was invited to train as a car Tutor – she could not resist – and qualified as an Approved Group Tutor in 1990. Since then Jane has retested at Gold an enviable twelve times!
An avid learner, Jane enrolled for a cookery course at Stroud College, turned up for the first session and immediately changed her mind thinking: “It’s NOT me.” Instead she enrolled on a car maintenance course and, while not quite admitting to being a ‘petrol head’, acknowledges that she’s a keen fixer and is more than happy tuning / tweaking / repairing her car when necessary.During this period Graham Beale was our Chairman with Margaret Malcolm as Secretary. Margaret was a huge influence on the group’s development and instigator of / prime mover in many of the initiatives that enabled the group to grow and prosper. She was also very good at enlisting willing volunteers and very soon Jane was invited to join the committee.
As an advanced driving Tutor Jane has trained and assessed many associates, over more than 30 years, and has helped the majority achieve Gold passes. Having attended the Better Driver course and learnt her advanced driving craft Jane soon became an assessor on the same course and worked with the police for five years helping run their course. All of this has helped Jane continue driving for longer than many of her peers.
With such a wealth of knowledge and experience I asked for Jane’s top tips for trainee advanced drivers. She replied: “Read your handbook, get to know your vehicle really well and practise.”
Jane elected to cease tutoring at the end of 2021 with her final associate, Ben Mitchell, achieving a much sought-after Gold pass. Never one to stand still and not long afterwards, Jane joined her local church and has very quickly been spotted as a ‘can do’ person which has led to her recently being privileged to be invited to become a church Elder.
Chair Stephen presents Jane's Honorary Membership Certificate
Jane remains as busy as ever and divides the rest of her time between family, jive dancing (seeking a new group), swimming, working with schoolchildren on reading comprehension and spending time with friends.
Glos RoADAR as a group and many of its members have benefited enormously from Jane’s support, expertise and sterling contribution over at least three decades. She thoroughly deserves, and is pleased to accept, Honorary Membership.
[1] Jane’s Journal, The Diary of a Bright Young Thing (1932-1959)
This was a free workshop comprising 3 modules; Crash scene management; First Aid (including assessing a casualty, dealing with catastrophic bleeds, removal of crash helmet(s) & CPR; together with the “the thinking biker”.
