The Charitable Driving School

Our aim in establishing Driving Equality has always been to provide equal opportunities to all members of our local community, regardless of their individual circumstances. We fulfil this objective through providing free driving tuition and assistance with the associated fees.

Holding a full driving licence affords a wealth of opportunities which are otherwise inaccessible to the less privileged members of our community. We are seeking to create positive change by helping more individuals to unlock these opportunities for themselves

There are many people whose independence is restricted by factors such as finances, poor health and caring responsibilities. In assisting these individuals on their driving journey, we can enable them to achieve a higher quality of living.

The benefits of becoming a qualified driver include increased autonomy, job opportunities and security. This status also offers the capacity for people to better access their social support network, regardless of location.

We liaise with other local charities to identify potential students who would benefit from having the ability to drive but are unable to afford the costs associated with professional tuition. All our instructors are required to provide one hour of their time every week to support an eligible student.

As a charitable unincorporated association, we require very little funding as the main cost is our time, which we freely give.

We also support eligible students through covering their licensing and test fees. The necessary funds are predominantly donated by past students who wish to continue supporting our cause.

We have identified a range of local charities to handle our referrals for free lessons. We are unable to accept self-referrals. This approach ensures we are unbiased and our support can be targeted to those with the greatest need.

The main charity we work with to handle our referrals right now is Crossroads Care Kent. Crossroads Care Kent help carers to make a life of their own outside of caring by providing their own quality care services to offer peace of mind and support carer wellbeing.

We will be working with their young carers to provide 48 hours of free driving tuition a year, as well as covering the fees for revision materials, tests and licences. As we grow, we aim to be able to increase this offering and the charities we work with.

Currently we don’t accept direct referrals. We rely on our partnered charity’s to provide this. However, if you are someone in need and you feel that you can meet the criteria of one of our supporting charities, we would highly encourage you to make contact with the relevant charity to go through the process to check your eligibility for obtaining a possible referral.

Again, we are currently not accepting direct referrals even if it's on behalf of somebody else. If you believe that you know someone who is in need and you feel that they can meet the criteria of one of our supporting charities, we would highly encourage you to either contact the relevant charity on their behalf or get the individual to reach out personally to see if they can qualify for consideration in obtaining a referral.

We are happy to accept donations to help us cover the costs of the following elements of the learning process:

License Fee: £34

Theory Revision Kit: £20

Theory Test: £23

Driving Test: £62

If you decide to donate to help us provide some of these materials, please do so at the link Click to donateHERE. Any amount you decide to give will be gratefully received.

We do not operate a waiting list for the charity referrals. As spaces become available, we contact our partners who will identify who would benefit most from the lessons. This is to ensure we can make the most meaningful impact as personal circumstances change.