RETURN OF THE LIBERATORS 2015
On 2 May 2015, 80 volunteer London taxi drivers took 160+ WWII veterans to the Netherlands, joining the Dutch people in their liberation celebrations.
Click here to view their full itinerary.
You can view the buzz it created on Twitter: #returnoftheliberators
Here are a few clips from the documentary 'Return of the Liberators', produced for us by our filmmaker-in-residence, working in collaboration with Hogarth and Ogilvy, and Creation Company Pictures. This film has been presented to the veterans and volunteer drivers on a commemorative DVD. Fingers crossed it will be developed further for a broader audience.
Here we are with our team of collectors - mostly World War II veterans - at Blackfriars Station in London, raising funds for our trip to The Netherlands in 2015. Our Vice President Dick Goodwin fills us in on some of the background.
We don't know why he's called Fast Eddie but our Vice President Eddie Hillery is organiser-in-chief of our collectors. Here he is talking about our wonderful collectors, and occasionally breaking into song (something he does with great regularity.)
Jim Moore is a London Cabbie who has been driving for the Taxi Charity for over 20 years. Here he is talking about why he volunteers for the charity.
Des Paige is a World War II veteran who served in Holland during the war. Here he is is in a London taxi in The Netherlands, with friend Jack, talking about the trip, and what he thinks about giving cabbies a tip.
We get quite a lot of attention when we take the veterans to The Netherlands. Here are a few clips from Dutch TV during our Return of the Liberators trip in 2015.
Alan 'Ossie' Osbourne is one of our great London cabbies. Here he is talking about why he loves taking the war veterans on our charity trips.
There's often a lot of singing when the charity get together with the war veterans... especially if there are a few beers involved.
Often our drivers become quite close to the war veterans they take on trips. Here is one of our long-standing drivers, David Webb, talking about the veteran he has taken to The Netherlands several times, Stan Daines. We also hear Stan talking about the Taxi Charity.
More singing war veterans! This pair always end up singing Geordie folk song, 'The Blaydon Races', whenever we're in the pub. We don't know why.
Here is World War II veteran Fred Glover in a reflective mood during our Return of the Liberators trip in 2015, when the veterans took part in commemorations for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of The Netherlands.