Chester

A CHESTER-BASED vlogger and motorbike enthusiast has been given an award by YouTube and attended MotoGP with BT Sport, just months after getting her licence.

Saffy Sprocket, who is originally from Ulverston but moved to Chester during lockdown, was selected for one of YouTube's 'Creator on the Rise' awards in June after engaging audiences with her journey to gain a motorbike licence.

Speaking about the award, Saffy said: "It was just nuts. YouTube rang me and said we're going to put you on the front page [of the website] and we're going to celebrate it. They gave me a badge to put on my profile and when I loaded it up on the day I was there on the front page and I was messaging all my friends and family. It was very exciting.

"It was never something I set out to do. It been bit of a catch-22 because the whole point of me learning to do this was to not care about the results, but now I am getting results."

Motorbikes were not always a passion for Saffy, who said that her inspiration came from an unlikely source.

"I had an old boss who was a motorcycle racer and I remember him coming into work after breaking his foot, and honestly I just thought he was the coolest person ever.

"From then I wanted a motorbike licence."

The 29-year-old, who works as a paralegal in Liverpool, says that the channel began in September 2020 and was born out of a desire to enjoy the process of learning to ride. Having played sports throughout her life, Saffy said that she didn't take the time to enjoy reaching a high level as she would always be pushing to improve and measuring herself against a "bigger yardstick".

"I only got my motorcycle licence 16 months ago and I went through the entire process to get a motorbike licence. I made videos about going for my test, I failed my test like a million times," she laughs.

"When it came to making the channel, it was like 'well you know what? It doesn't matter if I suck.' It doesn't matter if I fail my test, because through each step of the journey I'll just sit back and enjoy where I am and then once I am good at it, I'll be glad that I took the time to appreciate that it was a learning process."

Since then, she has also received awards from Motorbike TV, visited events like MotoGP and her channel has gained around 15,000 subscribers since the turn of the year.

"It's been a crazy two years, I have to admit. I've just gotten back from visiting MotoGP with BT Sport and it's crazy to go from never having a licence to being on track with professionals.

"It gets a bit hectic juggling it with work. Anything on a weekday I have to say that I can't do, companies want to drop off motorbikes for me to borrow for a week but they don't deliver on weekends.

"I could be riding all these fancy bikes but often I have to say 'I'm really sorry, I've got to go to work.'"

Despite her success, Saffy says that she is happy for her vlogs to remain a hobby and she enjoys having her career alongside her passion. She has plans to take her bike around Europe later in the year on a fundraising trip for air ambulance.

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