At last, after a two-year break, the Taxi Charity can take veterans to the continent once again...
TAXI spoke to Dick Goodwin, Vice President of the Taxi Charity about their first trip abroad in two years…
Hi Dick, good to talk to you again, this has been a long time coming, hasn’t it?
Dick: It certainly has. When the pandemic hit in March 2020, we were with veterans in The Netherlands and had to return early and we never imagined that it would be two years until we could visit the continent again.
So when is your first visit abroad?
Dick: We are heading to The Netherlands for a short trip to meet with associations, museums, local government, and our Dutch friends, to plan for our trip for the Dutch Liberation anniversary in May. We are also busy planning our trip to Normandy for the WWII, D-Day commemorations at the beginning of June.
So which veterans are joining you on the this first trip?
Dick: We are hoping that WWII veterans, Ray Whitwell, Tom Schaffer, Dickie Forrester, Bill Gladden and Geoff Roberts will be joining us on the planning trip to The Netherlands. These WWII guys are absolute heroes to the Dutch and the country has missed welcoming the veterans and we know they will give them an amazing reception. Volunteer cab drivers Tony Neale, Dave Hemstead, Brian Heffernan, and Jim Hourihan will be driving the veterans for us on the trip. They have been supporting us for many years and without the help of these four and the rest of our amazing volunteers we wouldn’t be able to continue. If any drivers who are reading this and would like to hear more about what we do, I would love them to get in touch.
To discuss volunteering opportunities with the Taxi Charity, please email dickgoodwin@taxicharity.org.
About the Taxi Charity
The Taxi Charity is run by volunteer London black taxi drivers and has been supporting thousands of veterans of all ages since 1948. The charity arranges free trips to the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, for acts of commemoration and days out to museums, concerts, or fundraising events in the UK, to catch up with friends and comrades.
The Charity worked tirelessly during the pandemic to ensure veterans received regular contact by sending out a greeting card each month, gifts to mark the 75th anniversaries of VE and VJ day, stockings at Christmas and arranging Guards of Honour at veterans’ funerals.
Volunteers have also helped with regular phone calls, food shopping, transport to hospital appointments, and more recently taking veterans for their Coronavirus injections.
The charity was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in June 2021.
To fund and facilitate their work, the charity is reliant on generous donations from members of the public, businesses, and trusts.