More used to sorting out family disputes and wheeling out long lost relations on his mid morning TV show, Jeremy Kyle has had a taste of a stricter lifestyle with his new programme based around a military tank driving school that has in turn inspired the nation to drive a tank.
Kyle heads to the Defence School of Transport in Leconfield in East Yorkshire to lift the lid on one of the toughest institutions in the world. Over 16,000 military trainees pass their tests after taking part in over 100 different courses at the centre. To put it in perspective, every soldier in Afghanistan who is driving in any of the Army’s hardware or tanks has been trained at this facility.
The idea of this new TV programme is to show just what’s involved when it comes to driving a tank – from wearing night visions goggles for overnight driving exercises, to doing 360 degree turns in a Challenger 2 battle tank. Over the 12 weeks of the series a group of trainees are in the spotlight with cameras following them on their course as they learn to drive a range of specialist vehicles and tanks.
The show isn’t just about showing off the equipment of modern warfare, it’s also about the human side, with soldiers opening up with stories of life on the front line and what it’s like to be at the helm of a multi-million pound military tank in a war zone.
The television show is a fascinating insight into an area of the British Army that has never been exposed before and it’s attracting a large audience, which is having a rather interesting after effect.
According to Intotheblue.co.uk, one of the UKs largest activity gift suppliers, since the 12 part series began, the company has seen a rise in tank driving activity gift voucher sales.
Activities manager Darren Dray commented: “Since the Jeremy Kyle military driving school series has started on our screens we’ve seen a significant rise in the sales of our tank driving experiences. It seems tank driving is one of those classic childhood dreams and buying a tank driving experience from us means you don’t have to sign up to the Army to have a go in one!”
Figures released by the company show a 52% increase in tank driving voucher sales compared to the same time last year. It also shows there is a fairly even split between males and females wanting to get behind the wheel of a 30 ton fully-tracked military vehicle, with 59% male and 41% female.
For more information contact Caroline Face at caroline@intotheblue.co.uk
Into the Blue offers tank driving from just £65 per person at venues throughout the UK including Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Hampshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Kent, Bristol and in Scotland. There is a wide range of military hardware on offer to drive, including Chieftain tanks, Stalwart FV623, FV432 Armoured Personnel Carrier and the Russian TS2 Gvozdika tank.
About Into the Blue:
Into the Blue is a specialist experience activity gift voucher company that started life in 1996 as an off-shoot of Air Displays International Ltd (operator of the world-renowned Biggin Hill Air Fair), offering flying activities and lessons.
Since then, the company has added a whole range of different activities to the portfolio of activity gift voucher experiences, which now totals in excess of 800. All experiences are available to buy directly from intotheblue.co.uk or by calling 01959 578100.
The company continues to evolve the range and believes that there is a perfect experience suitable for every individual and for every occasion.
