Adaption grants awarded during the year totalled £52,959.19 (an increase of £7,388.44 over the 2017/18 fiscal period) and a further £483.24 (an increase of £309.60 over the 2017/18 fiscal period) was spent on adaptations to the 125cc motorcycles in the NABD learner loaner fleet. As ever maintain our commitment to ensure every single penny of general donations to the NABD will go directly towards grants. A further £2,015.00 was donated towards the sponsorship of specified aspects of the NABD’s core costs. We have always been proud to state that 100% of donations go directly to the purpose for which they are donated. In the 2017/18 fiscal year we once again proved that this is no idle boast.
• • • •
Solo motorcycles New motorcycle/trike conversions Existing trikes Motorcycle/Sidecar Combinations
50 11 11 2
The adaptations funded by these NABD grants included a broad range of equipment and an eclectic range of design and fabrication challenges, including: • Kliktronic gear changers 45 • K‐Lever2 twin lever units 15 • Hudson Engineering Thumb operated brakes 3 • PFM twin lever units 1 • Hydraulic to cable conversion 1 NB. Many adaptations have also involved one‐off specialist engineering such as, the fitting of reversing differentials, throttle adaptions, steering dampers, wheelchair racks, modified handlebars, trike conversions etc.
ADAPTATION GRANTS: During the fiscal period April 2018 – March 2018, the NABD approved 74 adaptation grants to help disabled people to have vehicles adapted to suit their needs. This is an increase of sixteen grants compared with the previous fiscal year. These grants totalled £52,959.19 which is an increase of £7,388.44 over the total awarded in adaptation grants over the previous fiscal year.
LEARNER LOANER MOTORCYCLES: The NABD owns ten 125cc motorcycles, which are each adapted to suit specific disabilities. These motorcycles are loaned to disabled people who wish to take professional motorcycle training and tests. There is no hire charge attached to this service but a £150.00 administration fee is charged to cover the cost of delivery and collection of the machines.
NB. Five of these grants (totalling £4,380.00) were awarded to ex‐members of the British armed forces. All of these grants were funded by the general NABD adaptation fund because there were not sufficient funds in the ring‐fenced AFB fund to cover them at the time the applications were received.
Most of the machines have been out on loan throughout the year (some more than once). Eight NABD members have completed their Compulsory Basic Training courses (CBT) using NABD Learner/Loaner machines. Of these, five have so far successfully gone on to pass their full Category‐A licence test.
The geographical breakdown of grants awarded by the NABD is as follows: • England (South) • England (North) • England (Midlands) • Northern Ireland • Eire • Wales • Scotland
NABD Learner/Loaner machines had also been used successfully in fourteen rider assessments over this period.
26 19 17 2 2 4 4
NB. This demographic simply reflects the geographical spread of grants applied for rather than any form of bias on the part of the NABD. The Isle of Man and the Channel Isles also fall within the bailiwick of the NABD adaptation grant system but no grant applications were received from these areas during the 2018/19 fiscal year. These grants helped to fund special adaptations to: 6
NABD OPEN HOUSE
ISSUE 95
NABD Learner/Loaner motorcycles have also been displayed on a large number of NABD information stands at motorcycle and/or disability events throughout the year. The cost of maintaining, servicing and MOT testing the NABD Learner/Loaner fleet throughout the 2018/2019 fiscal year was sponsored by a donation of £1,000.00 for this purpose by the organisers of the Hoggin’ The Bridge event.
Rally Secretary, for personal reasons. Wendy had many years of sterling service in various National Committee posts and we were all extremely sad to see her go but we also understood the pressure she was under and we offer her our heartfelt thanks for all she has done for the NABD in the past. Dave Silburn retired from his post as manager of the Learner/Loaner scheme due to deteriorating health. Dave’s work with the learner/loaner scheme had been nothing short of heroic over the years. I think it fair to say that he had revolutionised the way in which the scheme was managed and he had been instrumental in dozens of individuals progressing from CBT to full licence in addition to countless more having advisory assessments to identify the best type of adaptations to fit their needs. Our heartfelt thanks go to Dave Silburn for his valiant efforts on behalf of the NABD. He is a true NABD hero! The Learner/Loaner post is an extremely important facet of the services provided by the NABD so, following Dave Silburn’s retirement the search was on for another worthy stalwart to fill the position. Fortune soon smiled upon the NABD when Gordon Hooper volunteered and was swiftly co‐ opted into the post. He has since proven his worth with some sterling work, both with the management of the scheme and in providing advisory assessments. More recently Adrian (Lemmy) Straughan has retired from the post of Rep’s Liaison due to health reasons and the post has been taken‐on jointly by Ross Lockett (Sponsorship) and Vic Hawkes (Club Liaison). OPEN HOUSE MAGAZINE: 2018 ‐2019 was a fairly disastrous year for the Open House magazine with only one of four issues actually being produced in that time‐frame. The NABD Chairman would like it known that the fault for this lies purely with himself and nobody else.
National Committee Changes: There have been a few changes to the National Committee since April 2018.
Both his paid work as an expert witness for the High Courts and his ‘other’ voluntary work with the Hulse Towers Hedgehog Refuge, which he runs jointly with his partner Mandy, have both grown exponentially to the point where he simply could not find time to produce the quarterly issues of Open House.
Wendy Seddon retired from her post of
It was not until March 2019 that an issue
