What is the Magical Taxi Tour? Annual Charity Convoy Departs Today
Today marks the start of the 27th annual Magical Taxi Tour.
This event, organised by The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers, involves a convoy of black cabs taking sick and terminally ill children on an incredible journey to Disneyland Paris.
Every year over 200 children, suffering from a range of chronic and life-limiting conditions are taken on the tour. This year's event will mean a total of 5000 children have experienced the Magical Taxi Tour.
Image Credit: The Magical Taxi Tour
The convoy of cabs sets off today, Friday 16 September, from East Winter Gardens, Canary Wharf. They will be joined by City of London Police escorts, Gendarmerie Nationale, London Ambulance NHS Trust vehicles and AA breakdown trucks.
Once departed, the convoy will make its way to Dover where they will embark on a P&O ferry to Calais. Once they land in Calais they will drive down to Assevilliers and then on to Disneyland Paris.
The tour is only made possible by the generosity of donors. To cover the costs of hotel, fuel, food, admission charges etc., around £1500 per taxi needs to be raised.
All the taxi drivers involved in the journey volunteer their time and vehicles. Some of the drivers have been present on each of the 26 previous tours. According to TaxiPoint, this “equates to driving around 20,000 miles and missing a total of 125 day’s work to help those less privileged.”
Some other incredible facts about the Magical Taxi Tour include:
To date 2500 taxis have taken almost 5000 children to Disneyland®.
24,000 packed lunches have been supplied to children, drivers and helpers.
Nearly 55,000 gallons of diesel have been used on the trip.
The Metropolitan Police, City of London Police, London Ambulance NHS Trust, and the AA have provided 200 support vehicles.
If one cab had taken everyone on all the trips it would have travelled well over half a million miles.
50 taxis undertook the first trip in 1994 with 100 children. In the Millennium year it was 125 taxis with 250 children
When travelling at speed last year's convoy, at times, was over three miles long.
The convoy has got through every year despite encountering a channel tunnel fire, a blockade of Calais by fisherman, a blockade by lorry drivers and a fuel crisis.
Every aspect of the trip is organized by unpaid volunteers.
A spokesperson for the tour said:
“Every driver who has ever done this trip will tell you – it is a magical event and brings a great deal of pleasure to the children involved.”
If you would like to donate to this wonderful cause you can do so via their just giving page here. You can also find more information about large donations and sponsorships on their website here.