Taxi driver and chairman of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, Colin Mills, reflects on 2024...
This was my first year as chairman of the Taxi Charity and it was an absolute honour and pleasure to take the helm. In a year packed full of events, I’d just like to highlight a few of my memorable moments.
Dutch Liberation
In May, we took a group of veterans to the Netherlands for Dutch Liberation. The 4 May is their national day of remembrance which culminates in a symbolic lighting of a flame at midnight. In 2024, the honour of lighting the flame of liberation in the Wageningen town square was given to British Market Garden veteran Geoff Roberts and Canadian veteran George Brewster. It is a very moving act which is watched by millions on Dutch TV. Once the flame is alight, hundreds run into the square and light torches which are carried through the night to all corners of the country.
The following day thousands of people arrive in Wageningen to watch the annual Liberation Day Parade, which we lead, driving three golf carts and two London cabs carrying veterans.
On the parade route, the veterans are showered with flowers, gifts and receive a thunderous round of applause during the 5km route. It was heartening to see the tears shared by the veterans and the families of those they had liberated 79 years before.
D-Day 80
The eyes of the world were on Normandy in June when the 80th anniversary of D-Day was commemorated. We drove a party of D-Day veterans over to France so that they could pay their respects to those who didn’t return from Operation Overlord, the largest seaborne invasion in history, better known as D-Day which marked the beginning of the liberation of France and western Europe.
On our trip were men from the Army and Navy who had experienced the true horrors of what happened on those beaches on 6 June 1944, as well as female veterans who played important roles back home in Blighty.
In December, when ITV was filming their New Year’s Eve show at Wembley Arena, we were invited to bring eight D-Day veterans on stage. If we thought the reception the veterans received in Normandy was outstanding, the reception from the 9,000 strong audience at the arena was mind-blowing and the standing ovation went on and on.
Worthing
The first thing the charity’s founding taxi drivers ever planned was a trip to the coast back in 1948. All these years later, we are still taking veterans for a day by the sea. In July, 70 cabs made the trip to the magnificent Art Deco Assembly Rooms on Worthing Pier where our veterans and guests enjoyed traditional fish and chips before guest speaker Matt Hellyer, the Chief Executive of the charity Pilgrim Bandits, who reached the rank of Warrant Officer in the SAS and served in every conflict over the past three decades and completed over 400 operations, spoke about his life and experiences.
100th Birthday Parties
It was a delight to attend several 100th birthday parties for WWII veterans last year, including for Dorothea Barron, John King and Mervyn Kersh. The joy of celebrating these wonderful milestones is always counter balanced by those veterans we lose through the year and we will always remember them with great fondness. I am so proud to say that this is not just a charity, it is a family.
Spitfire Flights
After a false start earlier in the year, when bad weather prevented the Spitfires from taking off at the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, WWII veterans Dorothea Barron and Robbie Hall got their chance to take to the air in two Spitfires in September. They were totally in awe of the stunning views from high above the Kent countryside and thoroughly enjoyed the victory rolls that the pilots performed.
Our Christmas Party
The year culminated with our annual Christmas party at Millwall Football Club where over 250 guests were able to catch up with old friends and make new ones, enjoyed a Christmas roast and took home a stocking, handmade by our volunteer, Susy Goodwin, who combines her amazing creativity with her graphic designer skills. She is also responsible for designing our monthly cards which bring so much joy to so many people.
Our People
We have a very strong and supportive team who make this charity what it is and their dedication is rightly recognised with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
Our charity family is made up of hundreds of volunteers which include our trustees, our collection team, our carers and our amazing taxi drivers who all play such an important part. We are supported by a group of wonderful ambassadors who help us to raise awareness about the charity and we are thrilled that our ambassador team continues to grow. Last year, much to our delight, Frans Ammerlaan and Roger Beets, our Dutch ambassadors, received MBEs from His Majesty King Charles, deserved recognition for their commitment to veterans.
Fundraising
Every year we are blessed that people put themselves forward to raise money for us. There are always too many to mention them all but I would like to say a special thanks to our vice chairman, Paul Cook, who did a skydive with veteran David Vaughan Jones to raise over £1,000; Bristolian Richard Iles who decorated his home with over 200,000 Christmas lights and raised over £10,000; and our ambassador, Johnny Gallagher, who raised an incredible £135,000 to allow us to take even more veterans to Normandy and the Netherlands.
I would also like to say a big thank you to our vice president, Dick Goodwin, who acts as our veteran liaison, and plans our trips and events.
Thank you
None of this would be possible without the wonderful support the charity receives. And I have to add that the support, help and advice that I have received as I've navigated this new role has been invaluable. Thank you to you all - the committee, the fundraisers, the volunteers, the supporters, the carers - and at the heart of the charity - the London cab drivers who generously give their time to support our veterans. We could not do this without you.
Colin Mills
Chairman
Taxi Charity for Military Veterans