Korean veteran and Chelsea Pensioner to skydive for Taxi Charity

Korean veteran Bill Parr and Chelsea Pensioner Mike Smith will be joining the Red Devils at Langar Airfield near Nottingham on 26 July 2018 for a fundraising parachute jump for the Taxi Charity. Mike Smith, 70, who served with the Royal Army Service Corps as an Air Despatcher will be completing his 99th parachute jump on the 26 July. His 85-year-old comrade on the day, Bill Parr, was with the Cameron Highlanders in Libya in the 1950s when he was seconded to the Black Watch and sent to Korea.

Mike Smith said: “The Taxi charity means so much to me and all the other veterans that it supports, and this is my small way of repaying their kindness and raising much needed funds to allow them to do even more good work." Joining them on the 12,000 feet tandem skydive will be Frances Wyhowska, vice president of the Taxi Charity and four London taxi drivers who volunteer their time and use their own vehicles to pick up the veterans and escort them to events all over the UK and on the continent. 

The Taxi Charity For Military Veterans, formerly known as the London Taxi Benevolent Association For War Disabled, was formed in Fulham in 1948 and aims to be for the benefit, comfort and enjoyment of military veterans.  The charity runs annual outings in the UK and has also recently travelled to Netherlands, Ypres and Normandy. In order to fund these outings, they seek donations from the general public and organisations, and rely on volunteer London licensed taxi drivers to provide their taxis and time for free.