WWII veteran, Jim Knox (97), attended a Taxi Charity event and surprised everyone when he decided that instead of supporting the younger veterans, he would compete alongside them.
The Taxi Charity organised an afternoon of go karting for younger veterans and invited some of the older veterans they support to cheer on the racers. WWII veteran, John Knox, from Upminster, surprised everyone when instead of sitting on the sidelines, he jumped in a kart and whizzed around the track, setting a record for the oldest person to ever compete on the Capital Karts go karting circuit in Barking.
Stuart Lawrence, manager, Capital Karts, said: "We were delighted to welcome the group of London cabbies and veterans to Capital Karts on the 6 July. My team thoroughly enjoyed their visit and especially meeting amazing veteran, Jim Knox. When I first saw Jim, I thought I’m not sure how long he will last, and boy did I have to eat my words. I have seen guys of 20 and 21 who can’t make it round the circuit in half the time he did. He was amazing and now holds the Capital Karts record for the oldest person to ever drive on our circuit in Barking.”
After a briefing and a 15-minute warm up Jim, the younger veterans and some volunteer cabbies raced against the clock on the longest indoor track in the UK.
Jim Knox said: “What an experience! I loved every minute of it. At my age you have to give things a go and best of all, my time wasn’t the slowest of the group.”
The event at Capital Karts in Barking was arranged by the Taxi Charity primarily for younger veterans to have an afternoon of friendly competitive fun followed by pizza and soft drinks with volunteer cabbies and WWII veterans.
Terry Ward, London cabbie and Taxi Charity committee member, said: "The Taxi Charity is well known for the support we give to older veterans, but it is less well known that we support younger veterans too. We are always looking for opportunities to plan rewarding and fun events that might be of interest to younger veterans, and we thought that Go Karting would be the perfect opportunity for everyone to have some fun. As well as inviting some veterans through associations we have worked with before, we also approached London based Veterans Aid UK, who care for veterans in crisis and the Stoll Foundation who provide supported housing to vulnerable veterans, who arranged for veterans to join us.”
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