On Wednesday 19 June 2019 we marked a significant milestone- that was the delivery of the F2D Year 11 Workshop to over 100,000 Victorian students since 2014.  

We waited to mark this achievement at McClelland College as that's where you'll find the very beginnings of this workshop after a community in trauma acted to keep their young people safe on the road.  

The event celebrating the delivery of the workshop to over 100,000 students was attended by representatives of the TAC, VicRoads, Victoria Police, MFB and local government along with community members who share our passion for keeping young people safe on the road. 

Among the attendees was Assistant Chief Fire Officer of Risk and Resilience, Tim Landells, who spoke on behalf of MFB’s commitment to the F2D Year 11 Workshop, a major partner of the Foundation for 15 years.  

“It’s a privilege for MFB to be involved in such a program as it helps shape young people’s attitudes and behaviours with the goal of saving lives”, said Landells. 

“I’m extremely proud of our fire fighters who have dedicated their time to this program to help turn this trend around and inspire young people to make better choices on the road”.   

As well as looking ahead, the celebration highlighted the achievement of the workshop’s founding group, who turned their community-based response to local road trauma into the beginnings of the VicRoads F2D Year 11 Workshop. (Watch our history explained here) 

Chairperson of the Frankston Mornington Peninsula Fit to Drive Group, Angela Pollard, spoke proudly of the growth of the community-founded workshop. 

“It’s an amazing testament to [the founding group’s] vision and the quality of the program that it has gone from a local area to a state-wide program.” 

Over a period of time, the current model of the VicRoads F2D Year 11 Workshop was developed and in 2014 the Foundation became the only organisation licensed to deliver VicRoads’ Year 11 road safety education program.  

Since then, we have proudly grown and extended this delivery to 70 local government areas, visiting 369 unique schools to deliver 872 workshops to over 100,000 Victorian students.     

The Foundation’s CEO Debbie Collings said the celebration itself speaks to the strength of community action. “The F2D Year 11 Workshop was founded on a community’s passion and commitment to act to keep their young people safe on the road”.         

“That same commitment is reflected in every community we’ve travelled to since and that’s why we’ve been able to reach 100,000 Victorian Year 11s in under five years”.    

Each of those 100,000 students experience the half-day workshop once, but for current McClelland College Year 12 student Sarah Garner, the workshop discussions, activities and key messages have become more relevant one year later. 

“You can really see how driving a little bit over the speed limit or even with a little distraction can effect not just you but other people on the road as well”, she said.  

“A lot of our friends are starting to get their P’s [probationary driver’s licence]. We are able to put into more perspective what we learnt in the workshop and apply it to real life and I think it’s helped the overall safety of our friends”.