This week, Melissa Todd meets the man helping the disadvantaged, traumatised and suicidal - one driving lesson at a time…

John Nicholson stands proud by his car. It’s inscribed with the name Kevin, the word surrounded by bluebirds.

“All our cars are named. Most are named after victims of suicide. When Kevin’s mum saw his name on the car, she kissed it, and the bluebirds, which he’d had tattooed on his arms. It’s a way of remembering, of keeping them with us.”

John runs the Community Driving School. A social enterprise, its profits go towards helping people who might otherwise struggle to learn to drive. Many of John’s pupils are considered a high risk for suicide. People with mental health issues, young carers, ex-addicts, and veterans - “ who come home”, John tells me, “yet leave their mental health elsewhere”.

John is a thoughtful, eloquent man, whose story pours forth faster than I can write. He tells me he only started having therapy in the past six months to deal with the impact of his traumatic childhood.

“On the 7th September 2014, after a series of knocks, I attempted suicide. At the very last moment I heard a door slam somewhere, my body twisted, and I fell on the floor, crying, thinking wow, I can’t even kill myself properly. But then I thought - maybe I survived for a reason. It was then I decided to leave my city job, and retrain as a driving instructor.”

For some, a driver’s license is a rite of passage; for others, it represents an escape route, whether away from an intolerable home life, or towards a fresh career opportunity. It always brings with it new chances and possibilities.

“Look at any job website, you’ll soon see how many jobs require a driver’s licence. Without one you’ve closed down so many opportunities. CDS is about equipping people for their future. And we don’t only offer driving instruction. We also provide therapy, confidence building skills, CV writing, maths and English.

“Our only stipulation is that people accepted on to our courses must volunteer within the community. We want to give people the opportunity to contribute positively. When you work for something, you value it more.”

Usually pupils find their own volunteering opportunities, although John and his team do have several connections locally which may help. “One of our pupils volunteered for a kennels in Manston and got offered a job there as a result. When you join us, you become part of our family. We will support you.

"If you come to the CDS as a paying pupil, 10% of your fees will go to supporting this project, helping those who might otherwise miss out on the chance to pass their test. All our instructors are have been trained in safeguarding, and we have a bespoke safeguarding policy, as well as public liability insurance.”

The CDS don’t take direct referrals, but work with trusted charitable partners. “Funding is so hard to get. We have to do all we can to make sure it goes to the right people.”

John is eager to tell more of his many success stories.

“Twenty-one pupils have been through our programme now, and we are incredibly proud of all of them. Grace came to us aged 17, covered in self-harm scars, bullied at school for years, bereaved as a child - by the time we met her, she was broken. Society had broken her. Now she’s a fully qualified tattoo artist, and uses the word ‘future’ about herself, where she never had before. Another young man, kicked out of school at 13, sat and cried when he passed his theory test. It was the first thing he’d ever passed, and it gave him hope, a sense of potential, excitement.” You can see more success stories on their Youtube channel here.

Deborah Mulvany, a mental health first aider based in Faversham, sponsors CDS and offers a free therapy service alongside the driving lessons. She also takes care of the instructors, to ensure they’re sufficiently mentally resilient to cope, but also to ensure they know what to say when their pupils are opening up to them.

“A car is an intimate space, and focussing on something else, not needing to make eye contact, often means they feel able to share their innermost selves. That’s brilliant, but it can be gruelling too. The staff need supervision.”

The Community Driving School is looking for donations and sponsors to help them continue their vital work across Kent. Visit the website for more details.

John tells me: “Running the driving school has changed me. I look back on the 7th September 2014 as my epiphany. Our emblem is the phoenix. We rise again.

“Becoming part of something valuable gives people hope. That’s what the suicidal lose. Hope is more important than happiness, more important than anything. If you can believe in a future you can start to work towards it.”