I recently received a box containing 50 special commemorative lapel pin badges and a letter from Agnes Schaap, Mayor of the Municipality of Renkum.
It is a great honour to receive these badges especially as they were made for our Arnhem veterans.
In her letter, the mayor thanks the Taxi Charity for taking care of their 'beloved' WWII veterans on our trips to Holland.
"We send you a small token as an expression of our gratitude and appreciation".
"The pin was made exclusively for the Municipality of Renkum for the surviving Airborne veterans. Looking what efforts you and your team undertake for them, we feel you deserve it too".
"We are very much looking forward seeing your team hopefully together with the veterans soon in our midst again".
I will ensure these wonderful pins are distributed amongst our veterans, and our committee members, drivers and other volunteers, who each year help us bring our WWII veterans to the Netherlands for the Liberation festivities in May and the Wandeltocht and Airborne commemorations every September.
I have been fortunate enough to participate in many of these visits and can say from the bottom of my heart how much they mean to all our veterans.
The warmth of the welcome we always receive from the Dutch people never ceases to amaze me and it has been so sad that it has not been possible to bring the veterans to the Netherlands due to the pandemic.
We look forward to the return of better days and hope to return to the Netherlands in 2022 - proudly wearing our special badges.
Ian Parsons
Chairman
Taxi Charity for Military Veterans
