A weekend in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

To conclude production I was spending the weekend in Oxfordshire to interview the last two voices in my documentary :

Jenny Fletcher - Motorsports UK FIA Girls On Track Programme Leader

Jeremy Rivers-Fletcher - British Women Racing Drivers Club Membership Secretary

My weekend started at the Motorsport UK Bicester Motion for a Girls On Track (GOT) networking event. This event included an inspiring panel of young women sharing, celebrating and educating the room about the motorsport industry. Each panellist described their niche area of work and it was reassuring to hear that they too felt like there was no place for them to belong in the industry at one point. The foundations of my documentary have be formed on aspiring to educate and explain the more niche roles of working in the industry, and in leaving the networking event I had learnt so much about the different roles the ladies were in and what steps they took to get to where they are now as well as what opportunities there were for them along the way.

In my interview with Jenny Fletcher she delved into the creation of the Girls On track initiative and its work getting young girls out in the field on taster days. From doing this GOT aims to bring roles within motorsport into their radar while they are young and before stereotypes take over. Jenny also explained how GOT has built an enormous community of young girls and women that all share the passion for the sport and want to work in it. The networking events are vital for women and girls to have support and to meet others to build confidence and their network to hopefully get their dream jobs.

GOT brings females to the forefront, to raise awareness and celebrate successes -

"You have to see it to believe it and want to be it" J.Fletcher

My next stop of the weekend was to meet Jeremy Rivers Fletcher, a lifelong motorsport fan, a seasoned driver of MG's and now an MX5 ,and for the latter part of his life British Women Racing Drivers Club's Membership Secretary. Jeremy describes the beginning of the BWRDC over 60 years ago and how the number of members has risen from 35 to 203. BWRDC was originally formed because women were not welcomed into the sport and could not be a part of the British Racing Drivers Club. It is now a support group for any women involved in the sport or shares the passion for it.

Jeremy shared with me the change he has seen in visibility for women in this industry over his lifetime and explained his personal amazement at the fact that he will be sharing his hillclimb car with a girl next year as she joins him in a co-drive.

As a male voice to my documentary, it was great to hear about the inspiring stories of women he has advocated for over the last 50 years. Jeremy has worked tirelessly to kickstart change and get more women involved in the sport that he too loves.