What am I doing here?

Melissa isn’t really a motorsport fan, infact, she’s a self confessed novice knowing very little but the basics when it comes to cars. So what made her choose to become the Treasurer of Therapy On Wheels, and join the rest of the team at events? This is Melissa’s story in her own words …

What do I know about cars? Absolutely nothing………. No that is a lie, I used to now know the practical things like where the oil goes, how to check it etc. I also have vague recollections of my step father telling me about how the whole combustion thing works so I guess the real question is how did I get involved with a charity that operates in the Motor Sport Industry?

Short Answer:

Andy Kahle, but that was boring wasn’t it so here is the pub story version …

Even though I am not that into cars I am in to unusual things and unusual people. As a 36 year old white middle class female accountant I joined a boxing gym – like a real one, all male sweat and boxing bags and wraps and the like. There were not many females there so what females where there we sort of become friends by default. One of those friends was involved with drag motorcycles so she introduced me to Andy.

Andy is still in my phone with a title of “Evs friend” as I am really bad with names but the iphone tags are really helpful.

So Andy (and Mick) were just part of the crowd that I knew through one friend. Probably the first time I meet Andy was a Christmas Eve dinner where her and Mick spent most of their time to one side away from the crowd, with their dogs. That is definitely one of Andy’s strong points; her ability to know both her own boundaries and those of the people around her.

Another one of her strong points is her ability to get her crap together when it comes to crunch time, whether it’s organising herself, or helping someone in need. Fast forward to 2017 when I was made redundant, my rental house didn’t have a tenant, and money was getting pretty tight. I asked Andy and Ev – at one of our weekly fitness swimming sessions – what they thought of the idea of listing my rental as an Airbnb. Andy – in her very honest and straightforward way – simply encouraged me as if I had no other option. That positivity gave me the encouragement to list my Airbnb on a Wednesday and have an enquiry for booking by the following Friday … but it was still unfurnished, so I asked the “proposed tenant” to give me two weeks to get it furnished.

But again Andy’s positive “we can do this” attitude was contagious. She borrowed Mick’s ute, grabbed a friends trailer and gave me a single day to travel from Armadale to Joondalup and back again collecting free furniture. The way that Andy organised herself for the betterment of me that week was amazing, because this woman is amazing.

True to herself she never promised anything but a single day, a ute, a trailer and more hands to help load and unload the furniture. And once she was done she walked away – giving me my own space get my own stuff together including parts of my brain. That is what a real friend does. They help out,  but just enough, without actually taking over. So that single day taught me very quickly that Andy Kahle is a great person to have in your corner.

There have been a few more adventures since, but that was just the beginning.

When Andy in turn needed some help with the bookkeeping and accounting side of her new charity Therapy on Wheels, I was only too happy to hide behind the role of Treasurer and setup the accounting system, prepare the BAS and offer advice as needed.

But Andy has a way of making a person step outside their comfort zone to challenge themselves to new experiences. I can now also claim to be amazing at handling a buffing cloth to remove fingerprints from the Mercedes at shows and I can pack up the ute (under instruction). I can also tell people that we can’t go under 10 seconds because we have passengers but yes the car is capable of that. I have now been to “the drags” twice and I even know there are different classes of drag car, door slammers, super sedans … I will stop there before it is painfully obvious how little I know.

So while I didn’t know anything about motorsport when I first met Andy, I am learning quickly not just about the sport, but about the wonderful work that Andy and her charity Therapy on Wheels do to help others.  I am happy to keep learning and also being a spare pair of hands while Andy, Mick and their crew do their thing at events and shows.

Because that is what friends do.