Just Kampers have recently wrapped up the first four of their JK Training Days, where they gave small groups of enthusiasts some hands-on mechanical experience working on classic Volkswagens.

 Mark Reynolds, who started Just Kampers back in 1989 (35 years ago last September!) hosted the Training Days in his own workshop, and was joined by ‘Workshop Mark’, who is Just Kampers’ onsite mechanic and star of their how-to videos on YouTube.

 They used Mark Reynolds’ 1967 Beetle Cabriolet and a 1970 T2 Bay belonging to Pete Dempsey from the JK Team, as well as a series of vintage cut-away engines, gearboxes, and floor pans to demonstrate how things work, how to check them, and how to fix them.

 A different topic was covered on each day:

• Getting your VW Ready to Use After Winter, and Basic Servicing

• An Introduction to Working on Classic VWs for Beginners

• Breakdown Prevention and 10 Tips to Get You Back on the Road If You Do Break Down

• An Introduction to Classic VW Brakes, Steering, and Suspension

These first four JK Training Days were used as a bit of a testing ground, to see how best to communicate the sorts of information that people might want if they’re new to working on air-cooled VWs, and to gauge interest in hands-on training days as a concept. It’s fair to say that there’s definitely interest in these sorts of events, as the limited number of tickets for the events sold out really fast!

Everyone who booked paid £100 for their place at the event and was then asked whether they wanted the money donated to Cancer Research UK or Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care, which is a charity local to Just Kampers. 100% of the money from the events went to charity, with a total of £2,500 raised – £1,100 went to Cancer Research UK, and £1,400 went to Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care.

After the success of these initial training days, and the great feedback they’ve had from attendees, the team at Just Kampers are keen to run more of these hands-on events.

If you have a topic or subject you’d like to see covered in a JK Training Day, you can email the JK Team at jkworld@justkampers.co.uk with your suggestion – there’s no promises that they’ll make it into a theme for a JK Training Day, but they’re definitely keen to know what you want to learn about!

You can read more about JK’s training day events at justkampers.com/jk-training-days/

You can also learn more about Cancer Research UK and Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care at cancerresearchuk.org and pth.org.uk respectively.