Just before the end of last year, I took the bold step of setting up my own training company .My business partner and I were both in a smiliar situation having been through the horrors of the corporate world and with both of us passionate about the trade union movement and that burning desire to pool our combined talents , we formed "Mathieson Training Ltd" (how we came up with that name is a different and rather amusing tale which i'll save for another day).

We decided to focus our efforts on delivering the new training courses for the taxi/minicab industry. I say new cos its been the only passenger transport industry here in the UK for which there was never any formal training programme. That all changed when the Disability Discrimination Act impacted heavily on the passenger transport industry and suddenly there was a major call for all drivers to be aware of disability issues. Coupled with this was the worryingly increasing trend of violence and abuse given towards members of the cab industry , not to mention the 50 or so deaths over the last 12 years, the majority of which were of a racial nature. One particular sickening incident in the north of England where a racist moron bragged that on his 21st birthday he was going to "kill a paki" , and not only did he stab the innocent driver from behind but he then drove the cab over his dead body cos apparently he "wanted to make 100% sure" .

Now where does my interest in this "glorious profession" come in?  Well for 5 years i ran a cab company with my best friend, I also set up and ran a drivers trade union for over 10 years, which is how i met my business partner.  Even though my only involvement now with the trade is  the odd saturday part-time job I still maintain the welfare interest and get called upon for advice. With this in mind and with the government here finally recognising the need for the industry to have training it presented the ideal opportunity for us both as experienced teachers, and with our ex police backgrounds and many years of representing the trade, to get involved and raise awareness and educate on a variety of issues, including customer service (yep lets face it not all cabbies are angels) , disability , route planning, taxi law, police reporting procedures etc.  Our aim is to educate, raise awareness, and by advising them on safety we are hopeful that the risks associated such as the horrific one mentioned earlier can be greatly reduced.

Well thats the good part ,  the not so good part is realising just how ruthless the education industry is today. I remember a blog by ItsJill (sorry cant be bothered to type it 3 times :) mentioning something similar.  Some colleges have seen that this is a new and funded training programme and see it as a potential money spinner. So much so that they are compromising delivering a quality training service for "making a quick buck" . We were approached by a few colleges who wanted to "use us" for our expertise and knowledge before fobbing us off after they had seen how we would do it.  Now there was no way we were going to messed about , but the only choice for us was to go independant and get approved as a training centre with the powers that be in the examing bodies.  After a long painstaking process we have now got the necessary files and papers in place, much to the annoyance of those ruthless colleges. Yeah ive upset a few people in those colleges but who gives a f--k? Not me for sure.

Anyway, today i did a deal with the secretary of a workers social club , a kindly old gentleman who offered us the services of a training room at a cost that is a fraction of what i would have have been charged by other venues. He seemed very intrigued by our project, especially with the disability training modules, plus the one where we get the local police to work with us on the safety plans. I had to ask him twice when he mentioned what he would charge us for the hire of the room, its a quaint little place . In true brit style i assured him he'd get a bottle of brandy from us as at Christmas as a thank you for his kind offer - which is the reason why ive sinned against my religion ! (Alcohol is a total no - no, i aint even supposed to give it as a gift) . Well, i cant go to confession (dont think we have that in our faith) so i guess i'll have to beg for forgiveness in some other way and try and be a good little muslim boy eh?  ;)

(And in case some ignorant jerk is reading this No it does not mean i am gonna go grow a bushy beard and go round recruiting terrorists, shouting death to all infidels, and burning american flags, and have 20 wives .... jeez, that would mean 20 mothers-in-law !  hehe  ;)