The City of Greater Geelong’s L2P group is celebrating the achievement of 200 successful learner drivers who now have driver licences through the mentoring program.

As well as reaching this exciting milestone, the L2P program also has an additional, brand new car thanks to the Geelong and Highton Rotary clubs, who held multiple fundraisers last year to purchase a Holden Barina for the driving program.

The L2P program now has six cars and 65 volunteer mentors on the roads around the City. The existing cars are sponsored by Gforce, Bendigo Bank as well as the City.

The L2P program pairs young people aged 16–21 with trained volunteer driving mentors in supervised driving sessions and aims to help young people who may not otherwise have access to a vehicle or licenced driver given their family or financial circumstances.

City of Greater Geelong Mayor said: “We greatly appreciate the fundraising efforts of Rotary. The new car will help train more drivers and reduce the waiting list with L2P. The impact of enabling young people to get their driver’s licence is significant. It can open doors to employment that weren’t previously available to them and without the financial burden.”

“Rotary supports the L2P program because it helps young people gain employment and training that they couldn’t access without a driving licence,” Highton Rotary Club spokesperson Ian Campbell said.