A salute to the Taxi Charity collectors, TAXI

In 2025, our veteran collectors were busy raising funds for the Taxi Charity at underground stations across Central London.

Some have been part of the collection team for years and clearly enjoy engaging with the public and talking about their lives and experiences.

Whilst raising funds is the primary objective, collection days also provide the veterans with a sense of purpose and the satisfaction of knowing they are doing an important job.

However, what we didn’t realise when we first started the collections was that we had also created a social club of sorts. The veterans always look forward to meeting up, particularly those who live alone, and all enjoy the camaraderie that collection days provide.

It’s always nice listening to their banter and friendly rivalry, which is often centred around who has the most money in their bucket. And with buckets in hand and medals gleaming, the veterans also help raise awareness of the work this charity does.

Back to the start

Our station collections began back in 2011, to raise funds for the Taxi Charity’s first trip to the Netherlands. It was hugely ambitious, but thankfully we had a long list of veterans willing to volunteer their time, and they quickly became a familiar sight at a number of London’s stations.

By May 2012, with our target achieved, 86 volunteer cabbies transported 160 World War II veterans to the Netherlands to participate in the Dutch Liberation celebrations. Such was the success of this visit, the collections continued, enabling future visits to the Netherlands, which went on to become an annual event.

The importance of these station collections cannot be overstated. While the Taxi Charity received grants from military organisations and income from various fundraising initiatives, collections soon became our primary source of funds and helped finance other events we organised.

Lockdown woes

Then, in early 2020, the pandemic brought everything to a sudden stop.

In the years since, and as the country gradually returned to normal, we faced challenges in restarting our collections. Several veterans had become too frail, the momentum had gone and it would be over three years before we assembled a new team, by which time a lot had changed.

Many people were now opting to work from home and a considerable number of those still commuting no longer carried cash. Consequently, our takings were significantly reduced. And with contactless having become the preferred payment method, the old banter about the weight of an individual’s bucket was no longer a reliable indicator of money they had collected – as the veterans who’ve since mastered our contactless terminals often jokingly remind us!

Three committee members, led by Taxi Charity Life President Terry Ward, are always present on the station’s concourse, providing regular cuppas, organising lunch and making sure the veterans are looked after throughout the day.

Terry Ward: “We usually start our collections in March, as January and February are too cold. Even though several of our collectors are now in their late 80s and early 90s, they’re always keen to put in a long day. Some start as early as 7:30am. We provide them with fold-up chairs and set up a small table with leaflets about the Taxi Charity. We generally aim to finish by 4 o’clock. The fellas do a fantastic job and we really appreciate it.”

Giving back

As a token of thanks, the Taxi Charity recently secured two tables for the London Ex-Boxers Association’s (LEBA) Annual Award Luncheon.

LEBA’s showpiece event takes place every February at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London’s West End, offering guests the chance to meet champions past and present, as well as other prominent figures from the boxing world.

Following a meet-and-greet drinks reception, the collectors then headed into the splendour of the building’s Grand Hall where they enjoyed a three-course lunch.

It was a memorable day for everyone involved. And well deserved it was too!

View this article on page 24 of Issue #604 of TAXI.