Proposal:
All over the country there are Care Homes and all over the country there are a lot of retired people who own Classic Cars of various vintages. It occurred to me that if these same people were able to drop in on their local Care Home and take an elderly resident for a ride, perhaps for a cuppa at the local tea-room, this might be a highlight for elderly people (mostly men!) who have always wanted a certain kind of car, or perhaps who owned the particular car in their youth.
The idea might also coincide with club meetings, where a small party of elderly residents could have a day-out at an event. I imagine a booking system where the Care Residents are able to look at a number of options in terms of dates and types of cars they are interested to ride in: this could be done easily online. There would be no charge.
It seems to me that it's a shame that all these hundreds of semi-retired owners of expensive and not-so-expensive old cars aren't doing anything else with them other than meeting each other and trailing about the countryside in convoys. There is nothing wrong with this of course, but the above idea came to me as a way to not only give an old guy a special day out, but also introduce a bit of an excuse to take out the old Classic! I have seen something along these lines happening in the sailing community, with sailors taking much needed aid to remote regions instead of just cruising about the planet in a slightly aimless fashion.
I have sent an email out to many Clubs about this non-profit idea: if sufficient interest comes back, I will commission a web-designer to construct a suitable website, get some idea of the costs involved & seek sponsorship, or request small donations from the Clubs that decide to get involved. I envisage a simple process, which might also include a "report" and possibly a picture or two of the encounters between the Classic Driver and the Classic Passenger.
Any comments, suggestions etc welcome.
Oliver Stapleton
Devon
