Testimonials Here at Elephant Driving, I work tirelessly to help students master all driving skills. Read just some of the testimonials I have received in the past from previous pupils:
Highly Recommended After a bad experience with my first instructor, Richard was there to put worries of driving at ease. He let me take the pace of the lesson and made me understand the fundamentals of driving with easy analogies and very clear information.He was patient and attentive and pushed me when i was ready. He also made lessons fun with his enthusiasm. I am now a much better and more confident driver than before.
Unfortunately I've moved out of the city but Richard will be greatly missed as an instructor! Highly recommended!
By Humzah from Sherwood Social Anxiety I recently passed my driving test first time.
I initially found Richard/Elephant Driving online when searching for an instructor who could help with issues around general and social anxiety. Driving had been something I had particular fear about for a long time, and starting (and, at time, continuing!) lessons was very difficult for me, but Richard was amazing throughout. He has a calm and patient approach and always made sure I had input towards the pace and content of lessons, while making sure I challenged myself with progressively more difficult skills. Richard was always reassuring whenever I had doubts – and Millie the dog was a great help too!
As an aside, I found it extremely helpful that Richard was always willing to communicate via text or through talking to my partner on the phone, as I struggle to speak on the phone myself.
I would strongly recommend getting in touch with Richard if you are considering learning to drive but are worried about driving itself or the prospect of working on it with a new person.
Thank you for all your help, and all the best,
Kimberley
By Kimberley Gill
From Anxiety to loving driving I found Richard after searching for driving instructors that specialise in nervous drivers with anxiety as I had a pretty bad phobia of driving after a bad experience with a previous instructor.Immediately I felt at ease with him, and he made a big effort to understand my anxieties and work around them. His methods are great and within a couple of lessons I was completely in love with driving again. He makes sure you are not only test ready, but ready to drive in the real world when you are on your own without an instructor.Would highly recommend to anyone with anxieties that make them feel they cannot learn to drive. By Sarah Sher
A kind, friendly and constructive driving instructor Richard was my 2nd driving instructor. After having as little as 10 lessons with my first instructor, i had managed to fully hate any aspect of driving and all my previous excitement and eagerness to learn had gone! However, I realised I would need to learn to drive and set about finding myself a new instructor. After arranging for my first lesson with Richard I began to feel more nervous about driving within roads where I had the potential to irritate other drivers by my lack of skills at the time. Eventually throughout my many lessons, Richard helped me to rebuild my confidence in driving and gave me the skills to do this efficiently. He was a brilliant instructor, who always offered constructive criticism, and never made me feel like i couldn't do anything. He allowed me to take things at my own pace, yet strongly pushed me towards trying harder skills of driving. Upon all my lessons with Richard I always knew that he would not let anything dangerous happen, and allowed me to relax more as time passed by. As the time came for me to book my driving test Richard helped by doing practice tests on lessons. Passing my driving test with 1 minor was worth every doubt and nerves I had ever encountered, and I would not of been able to do this without Richards support and guidance. For anyone looking for a driving instructor, swell as a good friend and listener, Richard is definitely the one for you.
Pupil Review Richard was my third instructor, and definitely the best! With previous instructors i felt i was in a tedious cycle and not at all pushing myself to test standards. With Richard i knew i was getting somewhere and money had been well spent! Richard is not only a good instructor, but he doesn't sugarcoat anything, and will push you to be as skilled at driving as you can be. He is honest with you and is a good judge on whether or not you are test ready. After blubbering like a baby before my test due to nerves Richard managed to calm me down and an hour later i was holding my test pass certificate. Quirky little tips were also given on how to develop my driving practice that Richard personalised with my interests and hobbies to help me remember! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! By Katie Schofield Great, Friendly Instructor.... Highly Recommended!!! :) I have recently passed my test, after only 20 hours of driving with Richard! He is a great instructor with great techniques, who will adapt his teaching to your needs! If you are after passing your test quickly and with ease then Richards your man! Highly recommended!!!Thanks Again! :)
By Cody
A super friendly constructive and super calm instructor I just passed my driving test today with just one minor, all thanks to my good friend richard. after taking lessons with other instructors i felt like i had wasted all my time and money. not with richard, he is the most constructive and friendly person i've ever met let alone an instructor. after just 10 hours of worry free driving with richard i had my driving license at hand. he really put things into perspective for me and took all the worry and panic out of the test, i felt totally at ease. i wish a million times i had met richard first as i would have been driving ages ago. i can't big the man up enough his lessons are extremely affordable, and best of all, FUN!! i enjoyed every second of driving with him, in my opinion he does not charge enough! he has the patience of a saint and never once got annoyed with me, and never criticised once. he has his own little ways of letting you spot your own mistakes and crucially how to fix them. if you are on the fence about taking lessons or feeling incredibly nervous like i was, don't be! get in touch with richard he will happily guide you through, also if you have any problems after passing, if you need advice about any factor of maintaining your car etc he is there for you. the best teacher i've ever had in my life, a million thanks richard!!!!! By Frosty KEV
BEST INSTRUCTOR EVER ;) Richard was my second instructor after the first was a total waste of time. From day one the instructions given were clear and i felt at ease. I would always look forward to my next driving lesson as i became really confident and didn't mind getting behind the wheel. He pushes you to your very best you can be, also making lessons as fun as they can be! i.e. pretending to be on a roller coaster down a steep hill! I really wish i had chosen Richard as my first instructor, as i would of been on the road ages ago. Closer to the test we went over practice tests so i was well and truly ready, and after all that it finally paid off as i have just passed my driving test first time. If you are a really nervous about driving or haven't had a great past instructor then i guarantee you will love every minute of your lessons with him, and lastly i can't thank him enough for getting me past my test. By Gabriella McCartney "I told 2 people at work, one being my son, and within
minutes, even the guys based as far as London were congratulating me on
passing, that's an indication of the scale of just how important it was for me
to get back behind the wheel. Important
to so many people including my son, his mother, my workplace and even our
clients. Within 2 hours of getting back
to the office, I was driving home in a brand new 10 plate, £20k, sexy little
red 2.0 Golf TDi, much to the delight of my boy, and of course myself."
"Thank you so much for your efforts in getting me a
test within such a short time, I never imagined you could get me one within a
week, and for all my worrying, it had no negative impact on my son and his work
experience at my workplace. I really
didn't believe I would be prepared for the extended test in such a short time
either, and that's where Richard took the reins. You've got a very commendable instructor
there, with his manner, methods, conviction and commitment to getting his pupil
to their goal. Within the first hour, he
knew not only what we should concentrate on, but also how to interact with me
on a level that I would take in his instructions, and put them in to practice
when needed."
"I honestly
didn't have the confidence in myself on particular maneuvers, but his method
was to go through it with me enough times until he knew I could do it and then
move on. I'm pretty sure that if we
continually tried to perfect my weak points until I was inch perfect, I would
have tried for that perfection in the test and failed by trying too hard. For me personally, I've learnt maneuvers that
I would simply have avoided previously.
During the last 6 years up until when I got banned, I'd driven the best
part of half a million miles in areas such as; bumper to bumper driving around
Piccadilly, who dares wins driving style in Paris, the free for all high speed
Autobahns around Germany and anything in between."
"Driving is second nature to me and it's almost
like a sixth sense when being able to adapt to driving almost anywhere in any
condition. Even under tuition, my mind
seemed to forget that I'd been off the road for 2 years and Richard had a bit
of a battle to get me out of that frame of mind, but he managed all the same,
and now I'm back on the road proper, hopefully I'll be back to the level I used
to be within a few months."
"Once again, thanks to yourself and Richard. My son Josh - who is equally as thankful -
and I can start living and enjoying outdoor life again. I hope the future is prosperous for you both. Please feel free to quote me in any of your
literature."